Author(s)

Renata Vianna Lima^1*, Henrique Duarte Vieira¹, Tatiana Oliveira da Silva¹, Norberto da Silva Rocha², Bruno Borges Deminicis¹

¹Plant Production, Universidade Estadual do Norte Fluminense Darcy Ribeiro (UENF), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
²Animal Science, Universidade Estadual do Norte Fluminense Darcy Ribeiro (UENF), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

The current study was developed with the purpose to evaluate the germination and the vigor of Kudzu (Pueraria phaseoloides), Leucaena (Leucaena leucocephala) and Calopogônio seeds (Calopogonium mucunoides) submitted to 0, 6, 12, 24, 48, 72 and 96 hours of testing to natural (in situ incubation) and simulated conditions (in vitro incubation) from the ruminal environment of bovines. For each period of in situ and in vitro incubation, in each kind of seed, the percentage of normal plants was evaluated, as well as abnormal plants, hard seeds, soaked seeds and dead seeds, besides the index of germination speed (IGS). The results were submitted to the Duncan test at a 5% probability. Higher percentages of normal plants were verified in the Kudzu and in the Leucaena kinds, when the seeds were submitted to in situ incubation, as well as the IGS for the three forage species. The Calopogônio seeds did not turn out to be susceptible of use in the in situ and in vitro incubations. The in vitro incubation revealed to be more harmful to the seeds of the three species used.

Pueraria phaseoloides, Leucaena leucocephala, Calopogonium mucunoides, Digestibility, Fermentation

Lima, R. , Vieira, H. , da Silva, T. , Silva Rocha, N. and Deminicis, B. (2015) Germination and Vigor of Fodder Fabacceae Seeds Submitted to in Vitro and in Situ Incubation. American Journal of Plant Sciences, 6, 2317-2328. doi: 10.4236/ajps.2015.614235.