Study on seed quality performance and enzymatic activity after dormancy breaking in henna

Abstract

Henna (Lawsonia inermis L.) is a important medicinal plant belonging to the family Lythraceae. Seeds of this species exhibit poor germination and posses seed dormancy. In an effort to find out suitable method to break dormancy to improve germination and promote the cultivation of this plant, treatments were imposed Viz., GA3 @ 500 ppm (24 hr and 48hr), KNO3 @ 1% (24hr and 48hr), wet stratification @ 10° C (24hr and 48hr), soaking in water (24hr and 48hr) acid scarification (3min and 6min), mechanical scarification by rubbing with sand paper (3 min and 6 min) and dry seeds were kept as control (not treated). The highest germination (92.25 %), mean seedling length (5.40 cm), mean seedling dry weight (6.83 mg), SVI-I (498) and SVI –II (630) was observed in the treatment KNO3 24 hr. Whereas lowest germination (31.23%), mean seedling length (2.00 cm), mean seedling dry weight (4.01 mg), SVI-I (63) and SVI–II (125) was observed in the treatment acid scarification 6 min. The highest I±- Amylase activity (64.97 I¼g g-1) was recorded in the treatment KNO3 24hr and lowest activity (43.72 I¼g g-1) was recorded in dry seeds (control – dormant seeds). The dormancy breaking treatments from 1 to 5 were scored as low, medium, high intensity and very high intensity with Rm value ranged from 0.0178 to 0.0948 for esterase activity.