Effect of priming on physiological seed quality in aged seeds of hot pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) var. Punjab Sindhuri and hybrid CH-27

Abstract

Hot pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) is an important spice crop of India and the quality of its seed is an important commercial trait. However, when stored for intervening months between harvesting and next sowing the seeds undergo a loss of quality. Freshly harvested seeds of hot pepper var. Punjab Sindhuri and hybrid CH-27 were subjected to natural ageing (stored at room temperature for 12 months), controlled ageing (stored in refrigerator for 12 months) and accelerated ageing (3,6,9 and 12 days). As the storage duration increases, germination, seedling length, seedling fresh and dry weight decreases while MDG, moisture content and electrolytic leakage increases. Aged seeds were primed in the solutions of Ascorbic acid (2% and 2.5%), PEG (25% and 30%), GA3 (30ppm and 50ppm) and KNO3 (1% and 2%) for 12 and 24 hours. All priming treatments significantly improved seed performance in terms of germination percentage, MDG, seedling growth, moisture content and electrolytic leakage. Among the various priming treatments KNO3 primed seeds excelled over all other treatments.