Germination ecology of nutraceutical herbs for agronomic perspectives

Benvenuti, Stefano; Pardossi, Alberto

doi:10.1016/j.eja.2016.03.001

Cited by 9 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 67 publications

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“…These results indicate that the studied species have the potential to function as facultative winter annuals, since they germinated within the range of 6–22 °C. This strategy agrees with a recent survey of field germination of Mediterranean herbs, which found that most of them are facultative annuals with similar germination whether sown in early winter (November) or in late winter (February) (Benvenuti & Pardossi ). Despite a range of responses across temperatures, the values for the cardinal temperatures were similar across species: T b were between 3–6 °C, T o around 14 °C, and T c around 23 °C.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

Hydrothermal thresholds for seed germination in winter annual forbs from old‐field Mediterranean landscapes

Frischie

Fernández-Pascual

Ramírez³

et al. 2018

Plant Biol J

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Under Mediterranean climates with dry-hot summers and cool-wet winters, many forbs with potential for habitat restoration are winter annuals, but there is little information about their germination. We performed laboratory germination experiments on 13 ruderal dicots native to Andalusia (southern Spain). We measured the germination of recently harvested seeds from natural populations across nine temperature treatments (from 5 to 35 °C, constant and alternate); two storage periods; and eight water stress treatments (from 0 to -1.0 MPa). We then calculated the hydrothermal thresholds for seed germination. Final germination ranged from 0-100% and results were mixed in response to temperature. Base temperature was below 6 °C, optimal temperature was around 14 °C and the ceiling temperature around 23 °C. For five species, 10 months of storage improved total germination, indicating a dormancy-breaking effect, but the other species did not respond or had their germination reduced. All species were relatively tolerant to water stress, with base water potential ranging from -0.8 to -1.8 MPa. Our results suggest that hydrothermal germination thresholds, rather than physiological dormancy, are the main drivers of germination phenology in annual forbs from Mediterranean semi-dry environments. The variation in germination responses of these forb species differs from winter annual grasses, but their seeds are all suitable for being stored before restoration.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

Hydrothermal thresholds for seed germination in winter annual forbs from old‐field Mediterranean landscapes

Frischie

Fernández-Pascual

Ramírez³

et al. 2018

Plant Biol J

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“…Probably, chilling have the ecological role of stimulating germination during spring, when climatic conditions are most favorable for growing (Baskin and Baskin, 2004a). In contrast with other authors (Bretzel et al, 2009;Benvenuti and Pardossi, 2016), soaking seeds in NaClO was never able to significantly promote germination as compared to control. This finding was probably due to the fact that germination inhibitors are often tolerant to degradation (Halloin, 1983) and the efficacy of NaClO varies depending on the species.…”

Section: Seed Germination Testcontrasting

confidence: 52%

“…Some factors in light chamber studies are different from natural conditions and may lead to a higher germination rate and speed (Keller and Kollmann, 1999;Benvenuti and Pardossi, 2016).…”

Section: Seedling Emergence and Survival Of Speciesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Germination and performance of seven native wildflowers in the Mediterranean landscape plantings

Scarici

Provenzano

Rossini

et al. 2018

Italian Journal of Agronomy

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The use of native species in landscape design is a choice related to environmental sustainability and it contributes to the aesthetic appeal of urban and marginal areas. However, to date, the lack of knowledge of the ecological characteristics and agronomic practices of these species, represents a limit for their use. This study aims to obtain information about germination ecology, morphological traits and ornamental value of 7 selected perennial native taxa, with potential use in meadows seed mixtures for the Mediterranean environment. Seed germination for each taxon was assessed under different conditions (temperature, photoperiod and pre-treatment) in a controlled environment, while data on plant performances was collected from field plots. In general, the dormant seeds showed a positive response to pre-treatment with gibberellic acid (GA 3 ) and chilling within a period of about six months from the time of seed collection. The dependence of germination on light and temperature was observed in most of the tested taxa.Differences in plant height and flowering dynamics gave practical directions in terms of combining seeds of different species to create and maintain a wildflower meadow in lowmaintenance areas. Crepis bursifolia L. and Hypochaeris radicata L. were the only two species which showed good persistence during the two-year field study and met the aesthetic requirements of low-input Mediterranean landscaping. Our study by adding original findings to the limited knowledge available on wildflower sowing in the Mediterranean environment,contributes to the development of sustainable strategies in the greening projects designed for those peculiar climatic conditions.

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“…To overcome dormancy, at 3-6 months following collection seed were soaked in 50% sodium hypochlorite for 30 min, carefully washed in tap water, placed in Petri dishes on sand moistened with 0.1% potassium nitrate (KNO3) solution, and stored at 4°C in the dark for 3 mo (Benvenuti and Pardossi, 2016). In spring 2010, treated, and untreated, seed were sown in alveolar polystyrene trays (52×32 cm, 160 holes, 5 cm depth), filled with a peat-perlite substrate…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Little information is available about agronomic productivity of these emerging crops. A problem restricting cultivation of the herbs is seed dormancy (Baskin and Baskin, 2004), which can be overcome with specific pre-germination treatments (Benvenuti and Pardossi, 2016).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Agronomic, Nutraceutical, and Organoleptic Performances of Wild Herbs of Ethnobotanical Tradition

Benvenuti¹,

Maggini²,

Pardossi³

2016

International Journal of Vegetable Science

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Despite the growing interest for wild herbs as nutraceutical food there is a lack of information on how to grow them. Ten wild herbs were collected in natural and/or anthropized environments and assessed for their agronomic performance as fresh-cut (or ready-to-eat) leafy vegetables and their nutraceutical and organoleptic attributes. Seed dormancy prevented acceptable germination in many species. However, a physiological seed treatment (soaking with sodium hypochlorite followed by incubation for 3 mo at 4°C in sand moistened with potassium nitrate solution) allowed satisfactory germination, usually above 80%. Cultivation in alveolar containers produced highly diversified fresh-cut productivity (250-550 g•m -2 ), lower than that of lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.; >900 g•m -2 ) grown as a reference fresh cut green vegetable. Antioxidant power was often much greater in wild herbs (20.0 to 62.0 mmol Fe 2+ •kg -1 FW) than in lettuce (21.0 mmol Fe 2+ •kg -1 FW). Evaluation of the sensory profile indicated that softness and sweet taste of lettuce were generally preferred to the more robust flavors of wild herbs. Hardness and bitter taste produced a poor appreciation of most wild herbs. However, exceptions were evidenced due to characteristics of spiciness [Alliaria petiolata (M.Bieb) Cavara & Grande] Wild herbs 2 and/or crunchiness (Silene vulgaris [Moench] Garcke). Frequent distrust for most herbs was expressed as an example of food neofobia that generally occurs for unknown bitter flavors. Most of the wild herbs were not suitable as fresh-cut leafy vegetables, but some species could be ingredients for mixed products with better flavor and health properties.

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Germination ecology of nutraceutical herbs for agronomic perspectives

Cited by 9 publications

References 67 publications

Hydrothermal thresholds for seed germination in winter annual forbs from old‐field Mediterranean landscapes

Hydrothermal thresholds for seed germination in winter annual forbs from old‐field Mediterranean landscapes

Germination and performance of seven native wildflowers in the Mediterranean landscape plantings

Agronomic, Nutraceutical, and Organoleptic Performances of Wild Herbs of Ethnobotanical Tradition

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