Biologia reprodutiva e maturação de sementes de Talisia esculenta (Cambess.) Radlk.

Abstract

The pitombeira [Talisia esculenta (Cambess.) Radlk. (Sapindaceae), a native species of the Amazon region and with a large occurrence in the Caatinga, Cerrado and Atlantic Forest, is explored in the restoration of riparian forests, civil construction, folk medicine and agriculture. Despite its economic and ecological potential, there is no information about its reproductive biology and seed production technology. The objective of this work was to study reproductive biology and to determine the physiological maturity point of the seeds of the T. esculenta species, contributing with information on the management, propagation and conservation of the species. The experiments were conducted in areas of natural occurrence of T. esculenta, in the city of Areia, PB. In the first experiment, aspects of the reproductive biology and the efficiency of the pollination system of the species were studied. The female flowers are morphologically hermaphrodite, but functionally pistilated, due to the presence of non-dehiscent anthers, characteristics that classify it as androdio and indicate that the sexual system of the species may be in an evolutionary process for dioicia. Pollen viability was higher in females; however, males produced more flowers per inflorescence and pollen grains per flower, whose germination of the pollen tube was influenced by sucrose concentration and incubation time. The fruits from the natural and manual cross-pollination tests between male and female individuals presented higher numbers and quality. In the second experiment were determined the physical and morphological characteristics of fruits and seeds, besides the emergence and vigor of T. esculenta seedlings. During maturation, the water content of fruits and seeds decreased as the dry mass, emergence and vigor of the seeds increased. The fruits of T. esculenta should be harvested with the yellow-brown epicarp and the intense pink embryo. The physiological maturity of the seeds occurs between 98 and 126 days after the anthesis, however the dimensions of fruits and seeds are not a good indicator of their maturity.