Changes in the physiological potential of sunn hemp seeds during storage

Abstract

Sunn hemp (Crotalaria spectabilis) is widely used for soil correction and cover, but it is still necessary to know the characteristics that influence the storage of its seeds. This study aimed to evaluate the physiological quality of sunn hemp seeds under uncontrolled environmental conditions and in acclimatization chamber. A completely randomized experimental design was used, with four replicates, in subplots evaluated in different periods. Freshly harvested seeds and seeds at 90, 180 and 270 days of storage were evaluated for germination, first germination count, germination speed index, seedling emergence in the field, accelerated aging, cold test and seedling growth. The environment and storage time significantly influenced the seed germination and vigor. The seeds showed a high physiological performance for both the environmental conditions, maintaining the ability to produce normal seedlings up to approximately 150 days of storage, deteriorating afterwards, although without losing their germination capacity up to 270 days of storage.

An insight into seed priming response of Crotalaria ochroleuca and Crotalaria spectabilis during storage

“…However, for C. spectabilis no expressive result for the germination measurements differentiated primed and non-primed seeds, even after storage though the most expressive losses were in the germination speed of the seeds. It should be highlighted that, in a previous study C. spectabilis seeds showed a high physiological performance even after stored for up to approximately 150-days in uncontrolled environmental conditions, deteriorating afterwards, although without losing their germination capacity up to 270 days of storage (Silva et al, 2022b). In parallel, it has already been hypothesized that the ability to respond to priming treatment might be genetically controlled (Noorhosseini et al, 2018).…”