The objective of the presente work is to indicate the best procedures before storage, as fruit harvesting, drying and germination of seeds of Couroupita guyanensis. Different lots of seeds harvested in march/89 in the Botanical Garden of Rio de Janeiro were submitted to the following experiments: 1) evaluation of viability of seeds collected in two stages of maturation; 2) estimation of the effect of drying at 50oC, during different periods, over seed germination and moisture content; 3) evaluation of germination after desinfestation of seeds with sodium hipochlorite, in different concentrations and soaking periods; 4) determination of the best conditions of temperature and substrate for the germination test. The white seeds, coming from green, intact fruits, harvested yet in the tree, showed germination values significatly higher than the ones from darker seeds, originated from splitted fruits, collected immediately after its fall. Drying from 0 to 90 minutes, were not harmfull to germination. The seeds of this species did not tolerate desinfestation with NaClO; all the treatments showed lower values than control. The temperature recommented for germination test is 30oC and did not occurred differences between substrates.