Viability of eggplant seeds
1988
Mohamed, E.I. | Lester, R.N. | Mumford, P.M. (Birmingham Univ. (UK). Dept. of Plant Biology)
Seeds of 2 species of eggplant, Solanum melongena var. insanum and Solanum aethiopicum, were used. Each seed lot was halved and the moisture content of one batch of seeds was reduced by drying over silica gel and the remaining seeds were placed in an atmosphere of high humidity to equilibrate to a higher moisture level. The moisture content of the seeds was determined and then sealed in packages of laminated aluminum foil and stored at -18, 10, 20 and 30 degrees C. After 70, 84, 98 and 112 days, 4 replicate samples of S. melongena and one sample each of 4 accessions of S. aethiopicum, at each moisture content, were withdrawn from storage and germination tested. Seeds at low moisture content, in the region of 7 %, at lower temperatures, -18 to +20 degrees C, showed no significant change in germination which ranged from 92-98 %. The higher moisture contents varied from 14.3 % for S. melongena to 16.1 % for an accession of S. aethiopicum. Seeds of S. melongena and some accessions of S. aethiopicum showed rapid decline in viability under warm humid conditions. The tetrazolium test successfully discriminated between dead and dormant seed lots
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