Path analysis for physiological traits that influence seed germination of Passiflora edulis f. flavicarpa Deg

Abstract

The quality of yellow passion fruit seed is determined by fruit storage and the duration of this period. Two orthree harvest dates can thereby be defined to obtain maximum quality. This study aimed to obtain estimates of phenotype,genotype and residual correlation coefficients and evaluate the direct and indirect effects (path analysis) of genotype correlationsin seed extracted from fruits stored for 7, 14 and 21 days at cooled (8 ºC) and at environment temperature (25 ºC). Thevariables accelerated aging and moisture content explained the higher germination percentage in the refrigerated environment.However, in natural conditions, the variables dry matter and electric conductivity influenced seed germination percentagestrongly, evidencing that the indirect effects of accelerated aging, electric conductivity and weight reduction had the greatestinfluence on dry matter.

Keywords

• multicollinearity
• genotypic correlations
• accelerated aging
• direct and indirect effects
• seed quality