Germination and early seedling growth of cocoa with and without seed coat in two cultivars

Tatiane Reis  Silva; Adonis Moreira; Francieli Fátima  Missio

doi:10.33158/ASB.r259.v12.2026

Authors

Tatiane Reis Silva Universidade Estadual de Londrina
Adonis Moreira Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária, Embrapa Soja
Francieli Fátima Missio Universidade Estadual de Londrina

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.33158/ASB.r259.v12.2026

Keywords:

Theobroma cacao L, cocoa hybrids, seedling production, perennial tree species, farming systems, cocoa propagation, seedling quality, seedling establishment, high germination vigor, robust early growth, plant structural integrity, tree survival, tree long-term yield

Abstract

The objective of the research was to evaluate the germination and early growth of the clonal varieties CCN51 and PS1319 of cocoa under the influence of the presence or absence of seed coat. For this purpose, the experiment was conducted at the State University of Londrina (UEL), using a completely randomized design in a 2 x 2 factorial scheme, with two genotypes (CCN51 and PS1319) and two seed coat conditions (with and without seed coat). Data were subjected to ANOVA, adopting a significance level of 5% (p ≤ 0.05). The variables analyzed were germination percentage, plant height, hypocotyl length, epicotyl length, seedling height, and number of leaves. The removal of the seed coat increased final germination percentage at 30 days in both genotypes, with both genotypes achieving total germination in the absence of the coat. For the other variables, in CCN51, seed coat removal resulted in better performance in height, epicotyl, and number of leaves. In contrast, PS1319 showed superior results in all variables when the seed remained intact. Thus, seed coat extraction may or may not be beneficial, depending on the clonal variety. The analysis of variance indicated a significant effect of genotype for all morphological variables evaluated, demonstrating that the early growth of cocoa seedlings is conditioned by genetic constitution. Therefore, it is concluded that seed coat removal has a positive effect on the germination percentage at 30 days of cocoa seed germination, but in the early development of seedlings, the influence of seed coat removal depends on the clonal variety used.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Adu, M. O., Cobbinah, T., Asare, P. A., Yawson, D. O., & Taah, K. J. (2017). Demucilaging freshly stored seeds of cocoa (Theobroma cacao L.) improves seedling emergence and growth. Journal of Botany, 14. 1938359, 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1155/2017/1938359

Aikpokpodion, P. O. (2010). Correlation of growth parameters of cocoa (Theobroma cacao L.) seedlings. African Journal of Agricultural Research, 5(14), 1760–1764.

Bezerra, A. C., Zuza, J. F. C., Barbosa, L. S., Oliveira, L. C. L., Santos, E. N., & Alves, E. U. (2019). Qualidade física, fisiológica e anatomia do tegumento de Fabaceae. Meio Ambiente (Brasil), 1(2), 41-47. https://10.66205/mabra.v1i2.33

https://10.66205/mabra.v1i2.33

INMET - Instituto Nacional de Meteorologia. (2025). Clima. Londrina, PR: INMET. Disponível em: <https://clima.inmet.gov.br/GraficosClimatologicos/DF/83377>. Accessed in: January 08, 2026.

ICCO - International Cocoa Organization. (2024). Quarterly Bulletin of Cocoa Statistics.Abidjan: ICCO. Available in: https://www.icco.org/may-2024-quarterly-bulletin-of-cocoa-statistics/. Accesssed in: March 17, 2026.

IBGE - Instituto brasileiro de geografia e estatística (). (2025). Levantamento Sistemático da Produção Agrícola: indicadores IBGE, dezembro 2024. Rio de Janeiro, RJ: IBGE. Available in: https://agenciadenoticias.ibge.gov.br/media/com_mediaibge/arquivos/42a86ef6d8cbdb0a25e13cdc830799e6.pdf. Acesso em: 17 mar. 2026

Jaimez, R. E., Barragan, L., Fernández-niño, M., Wessjohann, L. A., Cedeño-Garcia, G., Cantos, I. S. & Arteaga, F (2022). Theobroma cacao L. cultivar CCN 51: a comprehensive review on origin, genetics, sensory properties, production dynamics, and physiological aspects. PeerJ, 10, e12676. https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.12676

Lavanhole, D. F., Arantes, S. D., Arantes, L. O., Souza, C. A. S., Posse, S. C. P., Cerri Neto, B., & Crasque, J. (2019). Ecofisiologia da germinação dos genótipos de Theobroma cacao L. Iheringia - Série Botânica, 74, e:2019007. https://doi.org/10.21826/2446-82312019v74e2019007

Medina S. E. L. & Rivero, A. E. G. (2017). Germination characteristics of seeds of Theobroma cacao L. (Malvaceae) “cacao”. Arnaldoa, 24(2), 609-618. https://doi.org/10.22497/arnaldoa.242.24212

Motamayor, J. C., Lachenaud, P., Mota, J. W. S., Loor, R., Kuhn, D. N., Brown, J. S., & Schnell, R. J. (2008). Geographic and genetic population differentiation of the Amazonian chocolate tree (Theobroma cacao L.). PLoS ONE, 3(10), e3311. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0003311

Pereira, M. C., Santos, L. S., Ribeiro, V. G., Souza, E. R., Araujo, E. A., & Peixoto, A. R. (2009). Avaliações de porta-enxertos de cacaueiros da fase de crescimento das mudas até a enxertia no campo, no semiárido baiano. Agrotrópica, 21(2), 133 - 138.

Silva, R. R., Freitas, G. A., Siebeneichler, S. C., Mata, J. F., & Chagas, J. R. (2007). Desenvolvimento inicial de plântulas de Theobroma grandiflorum (Willd. ex Spreng.) Schum. sob influência de sombreamento. Acta Amazônica 37(3), 365 – 370. https://doi.org/10.1590/S0044-59672007000300007

Silveira, S.S., Posse, R. P., Silva, S. M. F., & et. Al. (2019). Growth and quality of genotype ps-1319 cacao seedlings produced under different irrigation depths. Journal of Agricultural Science. 11(16), 238-247. https://doi.org/10.5539/jas.v11n16p238

Sodré, G. A., Macedo, A. O., & Loureiro, G. A. H. A (2016). Avaliação do crescimento e qualidade de portaenxertos e mudas de cacaueiros. Agrotrópica, 28(2), 141–150. https://doi.org/10.21757/0103-3816.2016v28n2p141-150

Todd, E. T., Arigoni, F., Holzwarth, J. A., & et al. (2025). Developing a core collection for the conservation of Theobroma cacao’s genetic diversity. BMC Genomics, 26, article number 896. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12864-025-11882-6

Venial, L. R., Alexandre, R. S., Camata, H., & et al (2017). Biometria e armazenamento de sementes de genótipos de cacaueiro. Pesquisa Florestal Brasileira, 37(89), 39-46. https://doi.org/10.4336/2017.pfb.37.89.1239

Zarrillo, S., Gaikwad, N., Lanaud, C., & et al. (2018). The use and domestication of Theobroma cacao during the mid-Holocene in the upper Amazon. Nature Ecology & Evolution, 2, 1879–1888. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-018-0697-x