Seed cryopreservation of Passiflora species

Abstract The aim of this study was to evaluate the cryopreservation of seeds of Passiflora species, using different cryoprotectants. The completely randomized design was used with four treatments (T1 - DMSO at 7%; T2 - 0.3 M sucrose; T3 - storage in NL2 without cryoprotectants; T4 - control) and five replications of 50 seeds. The seeds were stored for 120 hours in NL2 (-196 °C), and thawing was conducted in a water bath (37 °C) for 20 minutes, proceeding with the germination and vigor tests. The data were submitted to ANOVA and Tukey's test (5% of probability) using the SISVAR program. In P. mucronata, P. suberosa and P. edulis seeds, the responses obtained were favorable to cryopreservation without the use of cryoprotectants in regards to P. micropetala, there was a considerable loss of germination potential after storage in NL2. Given these circunstances, cryopreservation can be used for long-term conservation of Passiflora mucronata, P. suberous and P. edulis, without the use of cryoprotectants.