The presence of phenolic compounds in the papaya seed structures can interfere with the germination process, so the objective in the study was to evaluate the effect of the harvest season and maturation stage of the fruit changing the inhibitory compounds presence and physiological quality in papaya seeds. Fruits of papaya were collected in April and October, 2010, and seeds extracted of the stage 1, 3, 5 and final of maturation, corresponding to about 15, 50, 75 and 100% of yellow peel respectively. Seeds with and without sarcotesta were evaluated by test of germination, first counting, accelerated aging, percentage of dormant seeds, and content of phenols in seed by method of Folin-Ciocalteau in completely randomized design The Seeds with higher germination and vigor level were the fruits at stage 5 and final of maturation. The sarcotesta contains a higher concentration of phenols in relation to other structures
Carica papaya L.; storage of fruits; inhibitors compounds; dormancy
