Efeito da aplicação do óleo essencial de tomilho natural e microencapsulado em atributos qualitativos de sementes de milho sob armazenamento

Abstract

Seed storage is a practice often used both in seedbeds and at the property level, in some cases. The search for the preservation of seed quality during the period in which it is being stored is of fundamental importance for the establishment of the next harvest. Among the strategies for quality preservation are the use of insect control products, as these may be responsible for direct and indirect damage to the seeds. By assuming the current production scenario that seeks sustainable management strategies, but also the growth in the organic and agroecological production chain, the search for alternative managements to chemicals has become evident. In this sense, the potential use of thyme essential oil (Thymus vulgaris) in the management of insect pests is known, but little is known about its effect on the quality of the seed that is under storage. Therefore, it is important to carry out research that evaluates the behavior of alternative products, such as thyme, on the quality of seeds under storage. With this objective in mind, we evaluated the influence of thyme essential oil (Thymus vulgaris), in its natural (liquid) and icroencapsulated form, at doses 0.0;0.5; 1.0; 1.5 e 3.0 L t-1, during the times 0, 50 and 100 days of storage, regarding the qualitative characteristics of the stored corn seeds. The experiment was developed in 2023, at UFFS - Campus Chapecó. The Creole corn variety Pixurum was used, which was submitted to storage in the laboratory, in non-hermetic pots. Commercial thyme essential oil was used, which was microencapsulated following its own methodology. The treatments were equivalent for natural and microencapsulated, at all times evaluated 0, 50 and 100 days. At the end, the experimental data were submitted to analysis of variance, by the F test (p≤0.05), and to the Tukey mean comparison test (p≤0.05), in the RStudio program. It was considered, at the end of the research, that the microencapsulated form of application was superior to the natural one, presenting lower qualitative losses in the seeds, but that at 100 days of storage, it caused more damage to the quality of the seeds than the natural application. It was also considered that as the doses increased, regardless of the storage time, the percentage of seed germination reduced, being ideal to work, at most, with doses up to 1.0 L t-1, as these maintained the attributes qualitative aspects of seeds and their germination characteristics.