| dc.description.abstract | The Moringa (Moringa oleifera Lam.) is a perennial species, of Moringaceae family, originating of Indian northeast region, widely distributed in India. It can adapt to a wide range of soils. It is a multipurpose plant with almost all parts having food or medicinal value and its seeds have industrial importance to vegetable oil production. In Brazil, the M. oleifera is known at Maranhão state since 1950 and it is used mainly in the water treatment. Cultivation of sexual propagation species is essential knowledge of the germinal process. In the current work, the seeds were divided in three groups L (light), M (medium) e P (heavy) according their fresh weight. The L subsample represented 14.04%, the M subsample 68.06% and the P subsample 17.90%. The seeds of L subsample presented in average 23.54% of water and 94.73% of organic material. The seeds of M subsample presented in average 42.28% of water and 93.21% of organic material. The seeds of subsample P presented in average 33.66% of water and 93.91% of organic material. For germination were evaluated the influence of depth, sowing position, the influence of light, temperature and seed weight. The germination presented the three-phase system. The begin of phase one was observed after one hour. After 24 h the seeds passed to phase II, which were registered a reduction in water absorption keeping the weight of the seeds almost constant. After five repetition, in average, the Germination Speed Index (GSI) of L seeds presented 55.39, M seeds 79.19 and P seeds 79.17. The germination percentage considering the average among treatments, depth and position of the hilum of L seeds were 68.5%, M seeds were 86.7% and P seeds were 88.3%. For growth, the experiment was divided into two stages: Primary growth comprising the first six months and secondary growth when transferring 112 seedlings to planting area. Both experiments presented increase of volume, weight and size. Reproductive phenology and pollination biology were studied in an experimental planting area, in which 112 individuals were tagged and monitored fortnightly for observations of phenological studies. For the study of floral morphology and biology, flowers and inflorescences were tagged and monitored until fruit formation. Floral visitors were observed throughout the experiment, noting the frequency, time and behavior of their visits. Moringa oleifera demonstrated sub-branch flowering pattern of intermediate duration. Floral attributes are related to melithophilia syndrome. The anthesis occurs predominantly between 06h00 and 12h00, observing the presence of nectar from the pre-anthesis phase. The flowers were visited by four genera of Hemiptera, six of Lepidoptera and 2 species of birds. | en |
