Abstract:
Abelmoschus moschatus
Medik. subsp. moschatus is a wild
uncultivated variety of common lady’s
finger (Abelmoschus esculentus) possessing
a high degree of seed dormancy. Methods of
dormancy breaking in the seed of the plant
were investigated through different physical
and chemical methods. Different
preconditioning treatments including hot
water, dry heat, physical scarification and
chemical treatments including exogenous
GA3 were applied to explore the initiation in
germination. Seeds were germinated under
the controlled photoperiod and temperature.
The viability of the test seeds was
estimated by topographical 2, 3,
5-Triphenyltetrazolium chloride (TTC)
solution test. Highest germination
percentage was obtained in the seeds treated
with the exothermic reaction of H2SO4 and
H2O, followed by exposure to gibberellic
acid (GA3). The exposure time of
exogenously applied GA3 had a significant
influence on the germination response. The
optimum germination temperature was
found to be 30 ± 0.5°C. Treatment with
0.75% of 2, 3, 5-Triphenyltetrazolium
chloride solution for 4 h at 35 ± 0.5°C
enabled to correlate the viability of the
seeds with the germinative values.
Maximum germination was induced through
this technique and dormancy of the seed can
be attributed due to hard impermeable seed
coat and endogenous physiological factor.
