Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-dzt6s Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-18T21:57:26.436Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Short-term aerated hydration for the improvement of seed quality in Brassica oleracea L

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 September 2008

J. M. Thornton  and
A. A. Powell
J. M. Thornton*
Affiliation:
Department of Agriculture, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen AB9 1UD, UK
A. A. Powell
Affiliation:
Department of Agriculture, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen AB9 1UD, UK
*
* Correspondence and present address: Department of Biological Sciences, Heriot-Watt University, Riccarton, Edinburgh EH144AS, UK
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Seeds of the Brussels sprouts cultivar Asmer Aries and the cauliflower cultivar Hipop were subjected to ageing at 20% moisture content and 45°C for 24 or 30 h, respectively; all seeds retained high germination after ageing. Aerated hydration of unaged and aged seeds of both cultivars for 4–8 h at a range of temperatures (10–30°C), followed by drying, resulted in improved performance, except that germination percentage and rate of cauliflower were lower at 10°C. Thus, all treated seeds showed greater germination rate and seedling root length than the control, which may have resulted from the advancement of the process of germination. The deleterious effect of aerated hydration at 10°C on cauliflower could be explained by damage due to rapid imbibition; seeds that had imbibed slowly to close to full imbibition (41% moisture content) before aerated hydration showed no decrease in germination. The improvement of aged seeds after aerated hydration was also revealed by higher germination after the controlled-deterioration test, which indicated less deterioration in treated seeds. Furthermore, the optimum improvements for all seeds were observed at 25°C and were greater when the water was aerated than non-aerated. These observations indicate the activation of metabolic repair processes during aerated hydration, leading to a reversal of the deterioration sustained during ageing.

Keywords

aerated hydrationmetabolic repairBrassicagermination
Type
Research Papers
Information
Seed Science Research , Volume 2 , Issue 1 , March 1992 , pp. 41 - 49
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1992

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Basu, R.N. (1976) Physico-chemical control of seed deterioration. Seed Research 4, 15–23.Google Scholar
Bewley, J.D. (1979) Physiological aspects of desiccation tolerance. Annual Review of Plant Physiology 30, 195–238.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brocklehurst, P.A. and Dearman, J. (1983) Interactions between seed priming treatments and nine seed lots of carrot, celery and onion. 1. Laboratory germination. Annals of Applied Biology 1–2, 577–584.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Derby, R.J. and Salter, P.J. (1976) A technique for osmotically pre-treating and germinating quantities of small seed. Annals of Applied Biology 83, 313–315.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Draper, S. and Keefe, P.D. (1990) Seed vigour in species of field vegetables, prediction by means of machine vision. Project News Supplement, Horticultural Development Council Spring 1990, pp. 2–3.Google Scholar
Goldsworthy, A., Fielding, J.L. and Dover, M.B.J. (1982) «Flash imbibition»: a method for the re-invigoration of aged wheat seed. Seed Science and Technology 10, 55–65.Google Scholar
Haight, J.C. and Grabe, D.F. (1972) Wetting and drying treatments to improve the performance of orchardgrass seed. Proceedings of the Association of Official Seed Analysts, North America 62, 135–148.Google Scholar
Hanson, A.D. (1973) The effects of imbibition drying treatments on wheat seeds. New Phytologist 72, 1063–1073.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Heydecker, W. and Coolbear, P. (1977) Seed treatments for improved performance – survey and attempted prognosis. Seed Science and Technology 5, 353–425.Google Scholar
Heydecker, W., Higgins, J. and Turner, Y.J. (1975) Invigoration of seeds? Seed Science and Technology 3, 881–888.Google Scholar
Ibrahim, A.E. and Roberts, E.H. (1983) Viability of lettuce seed. 1. Survival in hermetic storage. Journal of Experimental Botany 34, 620–630.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Matthews, S. (1980) Controlled deterioration: a new vigour testfor crop seeds. pp. 647–660 in Hebblethwaite, P.D. (Ed.) Seed production. London, Butterworths.Google Scholar
Matthews, S. and Powell, A.A. (1981) Controlled deterioration test. pp. 49–56 in Perry, D.A. (Ed.) Handbook of vigour test. Zurich, International Seed Testing Association.Google Scholar
Nichols, M.A. and Heydecker, W. (1968) Two approaches to the study of germination data. Proceedings of the International Seed Testing Association 33, 531–540.Google Scholar
Perl, M. and Feder, Z. (1981) Invigoration of pepper seeds (Capsicum annum L.) by treatment for pre-germination activities. Seed Science and Technology 9, 655–663.Google Scholar
Powell, A.A. (1984) Impaired membrane integrity – fundamental cause of seed quality differences in peas. pp. 383–394 in Hebblethwaite, P.D., Heath, M.C. and Dawkins, T.C.K. (Eds) The pea crop, London, Butterworths.Google Scholar
Powell, A.A. and Matthews, S. (1978) The damaging effect of water on dry pea embryos during imbibition. Journal of Experimental Botany 29, 1215–1229.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Villiers, T.A. and Edgcumbe, D.J. (1975) On the cause of seed deterioration in dry storage. Seed Science and Technology 3, 761–774.Google Scholar
Ward, F.H. and Powell, A.A. (1983) Evidence for repair processesin onion seeds during storage at high seed moisture contents. Journal of Experimental Botany 34, 277–282.CrossRefGoogle Scholar