Hancornia speciosa is a native tree species of the Brazilian Cerrado whose seeds are desiccation
sensitive. In this study, we aimed to evaluate drying and osmotic conditioning in H. speciosa
seeds. We used fresh seeds with 48% moisture content, which were slowly dried until they
attained contents of 20%, 15%, 10% and 5%. To evaluate osmotic conditioning, the seeds were
imbibed in 12 mL osmotic solutions at 0.0; –0.2; –0.4 and –0.6 MPa for two days. After that, they
were dehydrated until their original moisture content. The experiments were carried out in a
completely randomized design with four repetitions with 50 seeds each. Reduction in moisture
content from 20% to 5% decreased the physiological potential of seeds. H. speciosa seeds do not
require osmotic priming with PEG solutions, because imbibition of seeds in osmotic solutions
of up to –0.6 MPa results in reduction of germination rate and seedling length
