Growing the Red Araza seedlings

Red Araza seeds were collected from fully ripened fruits taken from adult trees (at 26°49’06”S, 50°59’29”W) in the Experimental Field of Epagri of Caçador/SC (authorized by Dr. Renato Luis Vieira, research manager of Epagri—Agricultural Research and Rural Extension Company of Santa Catarina). The seeds were extracted using a sieve and running water, and dried at ambient temperature.

The dried seeds were disinfected in a laminar air flow cabinet with 70% v/v alcohol, for 1 minute, followed by a 20-minute immersion in sodium hypochlorite (NaClO, 1.5% active ingredient) with 6 drops L^-1 of Tween® under constant agitation, and subsequently washed five times in distilled sterile water. Next, the seeds were germinated in vitro (flasks with 230 mL capacity) containing 55±2 grams of autoclaved sand (for 20 minutes, at 121°C and 1.2 atm) and moistened with distilled sterile water, up to the substrate's saturation level.

The flasks were then exposed to a 16-hour photoperiod, with a luminous intensity of 75 μmol m^-2 s^-1 and a temperature of 25±2°C. Of the germinated seedlings, only the ones that had just two sprouted leaves with lengths of 20±2 mm were selected.