Urucum (Bixa orellana L.) is a species of great commercial interest, from whose main product, the seed, is extracted the bixina and norbixina coloring, of great interest in national and international markets. The objective of this study was to evaluate urucum seed physiological quality of the cultivar Bico de Pato, stored for period of 12 months in four environments (environmental condition, cold chamber, refrigerator and freezer) and packed in bags (trifoliated envelopes of aluminum-polyethylene-paper, plastic packing in vacuum, black polyethylene). After moisture determination, the seeds were scarified mechanically. They were evaluated at 90, 180, 270, 360th days of storage and submitted to the germination, first counting of germination and germination speed index tests. It was possible to conclude that urucum seeds with 7,0% moisture, packed in vacuum maintained physiological quality for 270 days and that the storage in freezer and refrigerator, in aluminum and plastic bags in vacuum, provided better physiological seed quality.
Bixa orellana; forest species; preservation; vigor
