Morphoanatomy, physiology and biochemistry of Parkias seeds

The study of native forest species involving seed analysis has attracted attention in scientific circles due to the degradation of Brazilian ecosystems, the physiological quality of seeds and their potential applications. In this sense, the present study aimed to investigate and compare the morphoanatomical, physiological, and biochemical attributes of Parkia multijuga and Parkia pendula seeds under increasing temperature levels. The germinative, morphological, histochemical, and biochemical characteristics of the seeds were investigated. The species have distinct morphological patterns. Temperatures between 25 and 30 C for P. pendula and 30 and 35 C for P. multijuga favoured their germination characteristics. Starch is the most stored reserve in the cotyledons of P. multijuga, and proteins in the cotyledons of P. pendula. The species have distinct concentrations of total soluble sugars, total lipids, total proteins, and protein profile, and similarity in the composition of fatty acids and proteins. The species studied have distinct strategies in the use of organic reserves stored in their cotyledons.