Abstract

GARCIA-HOYOS, Apolinar; SANCHEZ-ROBLES, Jesús; GARCIA-HERNANDEZ, Luis Arturo  and  LEON-GONZALEZ, Fernando de. Sexual propagation and substrate influence on the development of Malpighia glabra L. (Malpighiaceae). Polibotánica [online]. 2011, n.32, pp.119-133. ISSN 1405-2768.

Malpighia glabra, also known as "acerola" or "semeruco" within its wide distributional range, produces fruits that have high vitamin C content in their mature state. The objective of this study was to reproduce this species by planting seeds in germination trays using the following substrates: commercial peat moss, andosol, and vertisol. The percentage of germination was calculated, the number of germinated seeds per tray cavity in each substrate was quantified, and growth from emergence of the hypocotyl to the seedling was measured. The results showed heterogeneous germination percentages between substrates. The analysis of variance presented significant differences, showing the commercial substrate to be the best for germination and vertisol to yield the highest growth rate. We can conclude that "acerola" has the capacity to germinate in any of these three substrates; nevertheless, the best results are obtained using a commercial substrate.

Keywords : "acerola"; andosol; commercial; germination; Malpighia glabra; substrate type; vertisol.

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