Teste de deterioração controlada em sementes de quatro espécies de orquídeas para avaliação do comportamento fisiológico

An alternative for conservation of this species is seed banking, based in that is possible to make conservation and propagations of the endangered species. But for this the seed quality must be monitored. Vigour tests can offer an option, and one of this is the controlled deterioration, which expose the seeds with high moisture to high temperatures during a determined period of time. The present work aimed to evaluate the controlled deterioration test over four orchid species in different times. Seeds of C. schilleriana, C. tigrina, C. crispata and C. labiata was submitted to deterioration from times ranging from zero to 48h at 43°C. For Cattleya crispata it was not found a effective time for the test. did not suffer any deterioration at any time. It is recommended for C. tigrina, C. labiata and C. schilleriana the use of 27 h at 43°C. However, time and temperature should be better studied for this group of plants. Tetrazolium test was not efficient to evaluate the seed quality after controlled deterioration.