Determinação da qualidade fisiológica de sementes de milho por equipamento de infravermelho e ressonância nuclear magnética

Abstract

The viability of the seed is of great significance in the quality characteristics of the seed reflecting the potential germination of seeds, and there is a great need for a fast and effective method to determine the physiological quality of corn seeds. Therefore, the present research aimed to evaluate the physiological quality of fresh corn seeds by means of infrared equipment and nuclear magnetic resonance and to correlate the non-destructive technique with the oil or dry matter content of the seeds, in order to anticipate the direction of the process within from UBS (Seed Processing Unit). The experiment was carried out at Bayer Brasil, Uberlândia-MG, corn ears from the Winter 2018, Winter 2019, Summer 2019 or Winter 2020 harvests were used, with harvest humidity between 25% and 36%. The experiment included three phases: oil and physiological relationship, controlled deterioration curve and validation of the equipment in the decision process for seed processing. It was possible to conclude that the spectra generated by NIR XDS equipment can be used quickly to make decisions about corn seed samples, considering a binary classification for the Germination and Vigor parameters according to the pass and fail values of lots used by the company. As well as, using the Minispec equipment, it was possible to obtain valid results for the determination of dry matter, oil content and moisture. A relationship was observed between dry matter and values of germination and vigor, but they do not allow, with sufficient sensitivity, a classification of the lots from readings of dry matter in the magnetic resonance equipment. Therefore, infrared and nuclear magnetic resonance equipment are promising for assessing the physiological quality of corn seeds.