Seed development and maturation in sword bean (Canavalia gladiata L.)

Abstract

The experiment to trace the pattern of seed development and maturation in Sword bean conducted at the Department of Vegetable Science, Horticultural College and Research Institute, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore revealed that the pods and seeds attained physiological maturity on 80 days after anthesis as evidenced by the maximum dry weight of the pod (183.3g) and seed (2.92g) combined with minimum moisture content of the pod (18.63%) and seed (14.77%). The change in colour of pod from green to brown and seed from green to dark red could be considered as a visible index of maturity. The seed quality parameters viz., germination (93%), dry weight of seed (2.92g), root length (20.87cm), shoot length (22.43cm), vigour index (4038.67), drymatter accumulation (8.11g) and protein content (14.75%) were also maximum at 80 days after anthesis.