CONSERVATION OF MARIZEIRO Geoffroea striata (Willd.) Morong SEEDS USING DIFFERENT PACKAGINGS AND ENVIRONMENTS

Geoffroea striata M., commonly known as marizeiro in Brazil, is an important tree species, mainly because it is adapted to riparian forest conditions in semi-arid and associated ecosystems. The species occur in large areas of northeastern Brazil and in the São Francisco river valley, always restricted to seasonally flooded environments. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of different types of packaging and storage periods, as well the influence of environments on the process of seed germination and vigor of Geoffroea striata. The experiment was carried out at the Laboratory of Plant Ecology - CCA//UFPB, following a completely randomized design. The seeds were distributed among two environments (natural conditions in the laboratory and cold room), packed in two types of packaging (paper bags and plastic bags) for five periods of storage: 0; 15; 30; 60 and 90 days. Water content, the emergence velocity index, dry weight and length of seedlings were evaluated. The data were submitted to a polynomial regression analysis. In plastic packaging and the environment of the cold room there was less reduction of viability and vigor during storage. Seeds packed in paper bags and stored in a laboratory rapidly lost viability and vigor, after 30 days of storage.