Research article - Peer-reviewed, 2007
Petroleum flotation technique upgrades the germinability of Casuarina equisetifolia seed lots
Sivakumar, V.; Anandalakshmi, R.; Warrier, R.R.; Singh, B.G.; Tigabu, Mulualem; Oden, Per ChristerAbstract
The germination of Casuarina equisetifolia Forst seed lots is low (40-50%) even when freshly collected. This study aimed at upgrading the germination performance by removing non-germinable seeds using petroleum flotation technique. Seeds collected from 19 individual trees in seedling seed orchards in India were assessed using X-ray to determine the proportion of different seed lot fractions. The feasibility of petroleum ether as a separation medium was tested. Morphological characters of floating and sunken seeds were further studied using image analysis technique to examine their effects on the separation efficiency. The X-ray analysis revealed a large quantity of shrivelled, empty and insect-damaged seeds, altogether accounting 50%, which were the causes of low percentage germination of un-graded seed lots (48%). Petroleum flotation resulted in 90% germination in the sunken fraction and 4% in the floating fraction. The separation was distinct for most seed lots, except few seed lots that had relatively low germination in the sunken fractions and more than 10% germination in the floating fractions. As a whole, petroleum flotation appears to be a feasible technique to upgrade the germination of C. equisetifolia seed lots, and its efficacy is influenced by wing surface area, seed density and wing quotient of filled and empty seeds.Keywords
empty seeds; filled seeds; specific density; seed lot enhancementPublished in
New Forests2007, volume: 34, number: 3, pages: 281-291
Publisher: SPRINGER
Authors' information
Sivakumar, V.
Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education
Anandalakshmi, R.
Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education
Warrier, R.R.
Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education
Singh, B.G.
Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Forest Genetics and Plant Physiology
Oden, Per Christer (Oden, Per)
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Forest Genetics and Plant Physiology
UKÄ Subject classification
Forest Science
Publication Identifiers
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11056-007-9055-6
URI (permanent link to this page)
https://res.slu.se/id/publ/43865