Óleos essenciais sobre a qualidade de sementes de leucena

Abstract

Leucena (Leucaena leucocephala) is an alternative used for animal feeding in the Northeastern of Brazil due to its resistance to drought and its high nutritional value. They are forest species whose seeds are affected by fungi that cause abnormalities and damage to seedlings, seed deterioration. The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficiency of essential oils in reducing the incidence of fungi associated with L. leucocephala seeds and their interference with physiological quality. The treatments were the following: essential oils of Cymbopogon nardus, Boswellia carteri, Eucalyptus globulus, Helianthus annuus, Vitis vinifera seeds, Eugenia caryophyllata, Melaleuca alternifolia and Rosmarinus officinalis in a concentration of 1 mL · L and fungicide, using 100 seeds per treatment.In order to overcome dormancy scarification with sandpaper No 100 in the opposite region to the micropile. The sanitary quality of the seeds was made with the incubation method in Petri dishes containing double layer of filter paper moistened with ADE. Seed physiological quality was determined based on seed germination, emergence and vigor tests. The experimental design was completely randomized with ten treatments. Eucalyptus, clove and Melaleuca alternifolia essential oils reduced the incidence percentage of fungi associated with leucena seeds. Melaleuca alternifolia essential oil reduced the physiological quality of leucena seeds.