Some physical, chemical, and germination properties of Peganum harmala L. seeds

Abstract

In this study, the aim was to determine some physical and chemical properties of the seeds of Peganum harmala, known as rue or harmel, and to determine the effects of some implementations to break the seed dormancy. The mean length, width, thickness, and surface area values for the P. harmala seeds were 4.78 mm, 1.81 mm, 1.53 mm, and 14.14 mm 2 , respectively. Linked to the dimensions, the arithmetic mean diameter, geometric mean diameter, and sphericity values were calculated as 2.71 mm, 2.34 mm, and 0.50. The bulk density and true density values were measured as 0.5379 and 1.015 g cm À3 , respectively, and the porosity value calculated linked to these values was 46.98%. The static friction angles on two different surfaces of galvanized metal and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) were measured as 15.67 and 17.67 , and the static friction coefficient values linked to these angles were 0.28 for galvanized metal and 0.32 for PVC. Terminal velocity experiments determined the velocity for P. harmala seeds was 5.03 ms À1 . According to analysis results for the chemical structure of P. harmala, dry matter ratio was 89.7%, crude ash ratio was 11.0%, crude protein was 10.3%, crude fiber was 42.0%, and crude oil ratio was 10.8%. In seed dormancy studies, the effects of sulfuric acid, precooling, soaking in water, and mechanical scarification (sanding) applications were determined. Accordingly, the most effective method for germination of P. harmala seeds was sanding with 84.0% germination rate. This was followed by soaking in water (78.0%) and 5 min H 2 SO 4 (75.0%) applications. Practical ApplicationsTurkey is a country with a current account deficit in the seed import-export balance.Therefore, the efficient use of seeds in each step of farming and postharvest operations is essential to reduce the seed waste. Determining the engineering properties of seeds will help to provide more efficient systems. The physical properties of seeds are important to design, develop, and adjustment of planters, storage structures, transporting systems, and postharvest systems. Chemical properties are essential to determine the optimum storage conditions and postharvest chemical processes for optimum utilization of seeds as foods or as raw materials for medicinal and industrial purposes. Seed dormancy-breaking features will be useful to determine optimum presowing conditions and breeding conditions of the seeds.

Seed Germination Ecology of the Medicinal Plant Peganum harmala (Zygophyllaceae)

“…Based on the high salt tolerance, reclamation potential, and medicinal value of P. harmala [ 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 ], this study investigated the germination responses of its seeds to various environmental factors, including light, temperature, drought, and salinity. Our findings suggest that P. harmala is sensitive to temperature, light, drought, and salinity.…”

“…While the chemical composition of P. harmala has been extensively studied in the past [ 29 , 30 , 31 ], little attention has been paid to its seed germination and seedling growth. Therefore, this research aims to evaluate the impact of various environmental factors, such as light, temperature, drought, and salinity, on seed germination.…”

Some physical properties of bitter gourd (Momordica charantia L.) seeds and kernels

“…After determining the true density of the seeds and kernels, the porosity was calculated using Equations 8 (Suthar and Das, 1996;Ozarslan, 2002;Akbolat et al, 2008a;Cekim and Ozarslan, 2020;Ertugrul et al, 2022). values were also measured (Akbolat et al, 2008b;Akman, 2022).…”

Gravimetric characteristics and friction parameters of common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.)

“…Hence, agricultural products have inherent variability in their engineering parameters, including moisture contents, size, shape, surface area, sphericity, density (both bulk & true), porosity, volume of seed, coefficient (both static & dynamic), and angle of repose (Jahanbakhshi, 2018;Ertuğrul et al, 2022). This variability poses challenges in designing, modification, improvement, or development of machines efficiently and effectively.…”