Evaluation of Morphometry, Chemical Composition and Physiological Quality of Castor Seed of Different Cultivars and Orders of Racemes

Aims: It was aimed to evaluate the physical, physiological quality and the chemical composition of castor seeds of different cultivars originating from different orders of racemes.

Study Design: The experimental design used was the completely randomized design with four repetitions.

Place and Duration of Study: The present research was developed in the Laboratory of Seed Analysis and Seedlings in the Center for Food Science and Technology of the Federal University of Campina Grande (UFCG), Campus Pombal, PB, Brazil, between the period of March to November of 2011.

Methodology: The study was conducted using seven cultivars of castor seeds, BRS Nordestina, BRS Energia, BRS Paraguaçu, AL Guarany 2002, IAC Guarani, IAC 80 and IAC 202, from different racemes. The seeds were submitted to the tests of humidity, the weight of thousand seeds, germination, first germination count, biometry, chemical composition, emergence and emergence speed index.

Results: It was not observed significant differences for the variables of ash content, seed length, emergence and emergence speed index. For the other variables, significant differences were observed by the Tukey test at 5% probability.

Conclusion: The seeds originated from primary racemes presented greater weight of thousand seeds and physiological quality. The protein content of seeds originated from primary, secondary and tertiary racemes was variable according to cultivar. The seeds originated from primary and secondary racemes presented a greater oil content. The seeds width was influenced by the racemes order only in the cultivars of BRS Nordestina and BRS Paraguaçu, where that seed originated from secondary and primary racemes presented greater width, respectively. The seeds originated from primary and tertiary racemes presented greater thickness, however, it was variable according to cultivar. The order of raceme interferes in the physical and physiological quality, as well as in the chemical composition of the castor seeds.