Longevity of organic pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) seeds

Abstract

This study was carried out to determine seed longevity in organic and conventionally produced pepper seeds from four different pepper cultivars. Seeds were stored at 20± 2 oC with 7.5±0.5 seed moisture over 48 months. Longevity of seeds were evaluated with Ki (initial seed quality), P50 (half-viability period), σ (standard deviation of distribution of seed deaths in time), and regression coefficient values. The highest longevity was observed in ‘Corbaci’ and ‘Yaglik’ cultivars, while ‘Surmeli’ and ‘K. Dolma’ were found to have shorter longevity. P50 was 43.4 and 40.2 months for ‘Corbacı’ and 34.9 and 39.7 months for ‘Yaglık’ organic and conventional cultivars, respectively, whereas it was about 21.4 and 23.7 months in ‘K. Dolma’ and ‘Surmeli’ cultivars. Similarly, the highest σ and regression coefficient values were observed for ‘Corbaci’ and the lowest for ‘Surmeli’ cultivars. Organic and conventional pepper seed longevity was not different in the same species. Regression coefficient values were 0.043 in organic and 0.046 in conventional seeds for ‘Corbaci’. Very close values were found between the two production systems for the other cultivars too. Results indicate that organic seeds had similar longevity to conventional ones. The main differences originated from the cultivars, not from the production system.

Vacuum Versus Open Air Storage for Pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) Seed Longevity with Low Temperature and Seed Moisture Content Over 48 Months

“…Differences among the species and cultivars were reported in earlier studies (Ozcoban and Demir, 2002;Basay et al, 2006;Nagel et al, 2009;Panayotov and Aladjadjiyan, 2014;Demir et al, 2020;Yildirim et al, 2020). In our work, Yaglik was the most sensitive to longevity among all cultivars.…”

Seed coat lignification level is crucial in Capsicum spp seed longevity

“…blocky and fleshy types. In fact, seeds from this genus lose viability faster than other Solanaceae like tomatoes or eggplants, and seedbanks and breeders usually need to renew accessions every 4–5 years (Adebisi & Abdul‐Rafiu, 2016; Priestley, 1986; Yildrim et al 2020). Nevertheless, Capsicum peppers are very diverse genetically and differences in germination parameters can be found among varieties (Bosland & Votava, 2012; Yildirim et al, 2020).…”