Phyllanthus niruri L.

Abstract

Meniran (Phyllanthus niruri L.) is a wild plant that used extensively as a raw material for traditional medicine but has not been cultivated yet. Meniran cultivation requires the availability of quality seeds and seedlings to produce the high productivity. The ability of seeds to germinate (seed viability) after the storage period is influenced by several factors both internal and external, including seed water content, genetic traits, initial viability and packaging material, storage temperature and humidity, microorganisms, and human factors. The study aimed to determine the effect of storage containers, storage temperature and time of storage on the power of meniran seed germination. The study was conducted in March-April 2018 at the B2P2TO2T Seed Laboratory. The research design was Factorial Completely Randomized Design with 3 factors and 3 replications. The first factor was a storage container consisting of plastic, paper envelopes and aluminum foil. Second factor was a storage temperature consisting of 0° C, -20° C and -50° C. The third factor was storage time which consists of 2 weeks, 4 weeks, 6 weeks, 8 weeks and 10 weeks. The results showed that the storage container and storage time had a significantly different effect on meniran seed germination. The storage time did not have a significant effect on germination. Together, the storage container, storage temperature and storage time did not have a significant effect on meniran seed germination. The interaction between the storage temperature and the storage time and the interaction between the storage container and the storage time gave significantly different effects on germination.