PRESERVATION OF COFFEE SEEDS (Coffea arabica L.), IN DIFFERENTS BAGS

MARIA CRISTINA LEME DE LIMA DIAS, ALBERTO SERGIO DO REGO BARROS

 

Wth the objective of evaluating some types of bags for preserving coffee seed quality, an experiment was conducted in Londrina, Paraná, using the cultivar Mundo Novo, line LCP 376-4, under normal storage conditions, during a storage period of eleven months. Seed samples of 250g each, with a moisture content of 37%, were packed in sealed 0,08mm thick transparent plastic bags, in perforated 0,08mm thick transparent plastic bags having four 3,0mm diameter holes at the top, and in multiwall paper bags. Seed quality was evaluated at two month intervals for germination, health and moisture content. The results indicated that the seeds packed in the perforated transparent plastic bags lost their capacit germination within eleven months of storage, with a moisture content of 22%, while those packed in the multiwail paper bags did so after ten months, with moisture content as low as 14%. On the other hand, the sealed transparent plastic bag proved to be the most to be the most efficient container, since by the end of eleven months storage the seeds presented 60% germination and the same inicial moisture content of 37%. The health test showed low incidence of the storage fungi Aspergillus spp. and Penicilliurn spp. in all three types of bags during the storage period.



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