Fruit maturity stage and provenance affect seed germination of Passiflora mollissima (banana passion fruit) and P. ligularis (sweet granadilla), two commercially valuable tropical fruit species

Passiflora mollissima (banana passion fruit) and P. liguralis (sweet granadilla) are two Passifloraceae species exploited in the tropics due to their high quality fruits, medicinal and ornamental properties. These species are propagated by seeds but the seeds exhibit low and erratic germination due to a combination of physical and physiological dormancy. Fruit ripening and provenance highly affect seed germination yet little is known about their effects in Passiflora species. We evaluated the effect of provenance and fruit maturity stage on the germination of P. mollissima and P. liguralis by germinating seeds extracted from fruits differing in maturity stage and from different provenances. Fruit maturity stage, provenance and their interaction affected seed germination but the magnitude of the effects differed between species. In P. mollissima, fruit maturity affected seed germination to a larger extent than provenance while the contrary occurred in P. ligularis. Seeds from low maturity stage-fruits had lower germination values across provenances than seeds from high maturity stage-fruits. This study shows that fruit ripening and increase in germination capacity occur simultaneously in P. mollissima and P. ligularis and thus seeds from fruits at high maturity stages from specific cultivars are desirable to obtain high germination rates.