Path analysis for physiological traits that influence seed germination of Passiflora edulis f. flavicarpa Deg
Erneida Coelho de Araújo, Rogerio Figueiredo Daher, Roberto Ferreira da Silva, and Alexandre Pio Viana
The quality of yellow passion fruit seed is determined by fruit storage and the duration of this period. Two or three 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 correlations in seed extracted from fruits stored for 7, 14 and 21 days at cooled (8 ºC) and at environment temperature (25 ºC). The variables 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 percentage strongly, evidencing that the indirect effects of accelerated aging, electric conductivity and weight reduction had the greatest influence on dry matter.