Influence of nitric oxide donor nanoencapsulation on Dyckia excelsa Leme (Bromeliaceae) germination

Bromeliads are used in landscaping due to the beauty of their leaves and flowers. The use of plant regulators such as nitric oxide (NO) promotes the stimulus of germination and it has been a way out to enhance production and reduce the search for plants in nature and nanoencapsulation aims to optimize its effect. The objective of this work was to evaluate the effect of using free and nanoencapsulated NO donor on the germination of D. excelsa. The treatments consisted of soaking the seeds for 5 minutes with s-nitrosoglutathione (GSNO), chitosan/sodium tripolyphosphate nanoparticles containing GSNO (NP CS/TPP-GSNO) and empty (NP CS/TPP) at doses: 15 mM and 20 mM. The control consisted of imbibition in distilled water. For each treatment, 4 replications of 50 seeds were used. The following variables were evaluated: percentage of germination (GER), first germination count (FGC), germination speed index (GSI), mean germination time (t) in addition to the length (SL) and seedling dry weight (SDW). To characterize the seeds, water content and viability were evaluated. D. excelsa seeds had 9.9% water content and 64% viability. For GER, treatments with GSNO ranged from 43 to 60%. The application of GSNO stimulated the germination process of D. excelsa and the nanoencapsulation did not cause any difference in the results compared to the free GSNO. It was concluded that the application