Effect of temperature treatment on seed water content and viability of green pea (Pisum sativum L.) and soybean (Glycine max L. Merr.) seeds

Abstract

The present investigation was undertaken to study correlation of seed water content and viability with its seed and seedling vigour in the temperature-treated seeds of pea and soybean during the early stages of germination. Seeds could withstand high temperature up to 70°C for 10 days continuously but high temperature treatment reduced the rate of germination percentage, moisture content as well as seed and seedling vigour. High temperature induced certain changes on pea seeds and resulted in the appearance of hard seeds. This effect was not observed in the soybean seeds due to oil-rich nature. ©2010 Asian Network for Scientific Information.