Showing 1 results for Althaea Officinalis L. Seeds
Hamideh Khalaj,
Volume 10, Issue 1 (9-2023)
Abstract
Extended Abstract
Introduction: Althaea officinalis L. is one of the most important plants of the Malvaceae family which is used in traditional medicine and as a drug to treat the disorders of digestive and respiratory systems. The fresh seeds of Althaea do not have a good growth potential. This experiment was performed to evaluate the different methods of seed dormancy breaking on the improvement of A. officinalis L. seed germination.
Materials and Methods: An experiment was conducted in a completely randomized design with three replications at the agricultural laboratory of Payame Noor University Tehran, Shahriar Center in 2017. The experimental treatments included 10 treatments (control, seed coat removal, seed coat removal + gibberellic acid (500 and 1000 ppm), seed coat removal + potassium nitrate (0.1 and 0.2%), seed coat removal + sulfuric acid (30 and 60 minutes), sulfuric acid (30 and 60 minutes).
Results: The results showed that the highest germination index with averages of 433.3 was observed in seed coat removal + 30- minutes of sulfuric acid treatment. The highest germination rate (44.7 seed/day) was observed in seed coat removal + 60-minute sulfuric acid treatment. The highest germination percentage (86.6%) was observed in seed coat removal+ 0.2% potassium nitrate treatment. Also, the highest mean germination time (20.2 day) was observed in both control and seeds coat removal treatments. The highest plumule and seedling length and fresh and dry weight were observed in seed coat removal + 30 and 60- minute sulfuric acid, and seed coat removal +0.2% potassium nitrate treatment, without significant difference. The highest radicle length was obtained in seed coat removal +30- minutes sulfuric acid treatment and seed coat removal + 0.2% potassium nitrate treatments.
Conclusion: Since all three sulfuric acid, potassium nitrate and gibberellic acid treatment along with seed coat removal treatment significantly affect the measured traits compared with control. It may be suggested that A. officinalis L. seed has a type of physical and physiological dormancy and seed dormancy breaking treatments (especially 30- minutes sulfuric acid) can be used to increase germination the fresh seeds of this plant.
Highlights:
- In A. officinalis plant, removal of seed coat using chemical treatments is very effective in applying seed dormancy treatments.
Development of A. officinalis seed cultivation and propagation is possible by applying seed dormancy breaking methods.
