Paper Details

Investigation the effect of osmopriming and hydropriming on germination behaviour of alfalfa (Medicago sativa) and maize (Zea mays)

Samira Hesabi, Saeed Vazan, Farid Golzardi

DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.12692/ijb/5.6.182-188

Int. J. Biosci. 5(6), 182-188. September, 2014. (PDF)

Abstract:

The present study was performed to investigate the effect of hydropriming and osmopriming on the germination of alfalfa (Medicago sativa) and maize (Zea mays) seeds in 2013 at the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources of Islamic Azad University of Karaj. In this study, factorial experiment was used in a completely randomized design with four replications. The osmopriming treatments were studied in five concentration level of PEG solution (0%, 25%, 50%, 75%, 100%) with potentials of 0.021, -0.045, -0.071, -0.097, -0.024, -0.051, -0.078, -0.102, -0.022, -0.048, -0.074 and -0.099 MPa, while hydropriming treatments were studied with distilled water. The results showed that there was a higher germination percentage in PEG solutions (osmopriming) under various concentrations in comparison with priming with distilled water (hydropriming). Therefore the highest germination percentage of seeds was observed in priming with polyethylene glycol (PEG) and the least one in hydropriming. The results revealed that priming treatments had significant influence on all traits. The higher germination percentage for osmoprimed seeds goes back to the controlled delivery of water to seeds while in hydroprimed ones, the seed coat bursts due to the non-controlled absorption of water by the seed, its inside metabolic substances leak out and the fungi and microorganisms are activated. Our findings showed that the higher germination percentage in the osmopriming treatments with PEG indicate the osmotic effects of this solution on the germination of the seeds.