Abstract

Aristotelia chilensis is a native tree species from Chile whose berry fruits are credited as holding a high antioxidant and cardioprotective ability. Its seeds possess high dormancy. In order to accelerate the germination process, N6-benzylaminopurine (BAP), gibberellic acid (GA3) and Fluridone (FLU) in two concentrations (10 and 100 μM) were studied in vitro conditions. The BAP treatments were the most effective dominance breakers mostly in a 100 μM concentration: reaching 74 % germination at 30 days, much higher than the 27 % from the witness control group. Germination curves indicate that treatments with GA3 and FLU accelerated germination, which started after a lag phase of 40 days. However, maximum germination never achieved the one obtained by the BAP 100 μM treatment with 85 % after 60 days.