Seed propagation studies in Embelia ribes burm. F.

Abstract

Embelia ribes, commonly known as Vidanga or false pepper is a commercially important threatened medicinal plant of the Tropics belonging to the family Myrsinaceae which yields embelin, a highly valuable quinine derivative. Regeneration of the crop is poor due to over exploitation, diminishing forest area, dormant seeds, abortive embryos and hard seed coat. Seeds were subjected to several pre-soaking treatments i.e, soaking in water, aqueous solutions of GA3 at different concentrations, acid scarification using HCl, H2 SO4 and combination of acid scarification and GA3. Seeds treated with GA3 750 ppm for 24 hours and H2SO4 scarified seeds treated with GA3 750 ppm for 12 hours exhibited superior results compared to the untreated control. The shoot length (8.82 cm), root length (8.03 cm), and total dry biomass (70.21mg) were maximum in seeds treated with GA3 750 ppm whereas, germination percentage (87.5) and seedling vigour (1410.42) were maximum in H2SO4 scarified seeds treated with with GA3 750 ppm.