PHYSIOLOGICAL AND BIOCHEMICAL QUALITY OF LETTUCE SEEDS COATED WITH MICRONUTRIENTS, AMINOACIDS AND GROWTH REGULATORS

The application of additives via seeds is a technique preconized and greatly utilized by the industry, but, little is known about of the effect upon the physiological and biochemical quality in seeds. This work was accomplished with the purpose of evaluating the effect of the covering with micronutrients, aminoacids, growth regulators and their combinations in the germination, vigor and activity for same enzymes in lettuce seeds. For the film-coating of the seed, a mixture of 50 mL of L88 (R) polymer, 40 mL of the additive and 10 mL of water was done. The additives used were micronutrients, aminoacids, growth regulators and the mixture of these. After film-coating, the seeds were dried in room temperature and next they were evaluated as to the percentage of germination, percentage of emergence and index of emergence velocity of the seedlings and activity of the enzymes esterase and endo-beta-mannase. It follows that the addition of micronutrients, aminoacids and growth regulators to the lettuce seeds do not negatively affect their germination and the esterase enzyme activity, but reduce the activity of the endo-beta-mannase enzyme. The coating of lettuce seeds with micronutrients, with a mixture of micronutrients + growth regulators, and a mixture of micronutrients + growth regulators + aminoacids increase the index of emergence velocity of the seedlings.