Raios X na avaliação da qualidade das sementes de trigo (Triticum aestivum)

Abstract

Wheat (Triticum aestivum) belongs to the grass family (Poaceae) and together with corn and rice are the most cultivated grains in the world. With the growth of its production, it becomes increasingly necessary to use seeds that present high quality, using techniques that allow the evaluation of the physiological quality of the seeds, ensuring agility and efficiency in the analyses developed. Among the techniques, those that use analysis of computerized images such as X-rays and RGB allow the relationship between internal morphology and structural integrity, thus being able to determine the physiological potential of seed lots. In view of this, the objective of this study was to evaluate the morphological characteristics of two seed cultivars of Triticum aestivum relating to seedling performance by means of image analysis techniques. For each cultivar, four replications of 50 seeds were performed, where the seeds were previously identified to perform the X-ray test, then the images were analyzed in the ImageJ® (Image Processing and Analysis in Java) software, and the tissue density was obtained. Subsequently, the seeds were separated into classes according to their tissue density. Soon after, the seeds were submitted to the emergence test and later to the seedling image analysis test at 4 days after sowing. The ImageJ® software was also used to process the images of the seedlings, where the root system length (cm), shoot length (cm) and total seedling length (cm) were collected. It is possible to relate the density of the X-ray images of wheat seeds to their vigor, and it is possible to associate morphological characteristics of the seeds and seedling performance through image analysis techniques.