The Effect of Seeds Age and Chilling on Water Imbibition and Germination for Ziziphus spina-christi Seeds

Abstract

Background and Objective: Sidr honey is considered one of the most valuable resources that could improve the economy of Yemen.Therefore increasing the number of Ziziphus spina-christi (Sidr) trees becomes a priority. In this study, the percentage and speed of germination, as well as water imbibition, were checked for Ziziphus spina-christi seeds of 2017 and 2018 production. Materials and Methods:The seeds were obtained from the Doan Honey Bee Center, Hadhramout, Yemen. Four treatments (immersing in water, chilling, immersing first then chilling and chilling first then immersing) along with water control were applied to the seeds. The immersing time was kept to 24 hrs. Also, the temperature and time of the chilling process were 4EC and 4 hrs, respectively. Results: The seeds of 2018 significantly outperformed the seeds of 2017 in terms of water imbibition ability. The largest amount of adsorbed water was noticed for seeds treated by chilling first and then immersing. On the other hand, the lowest amount of adsorbed water was observed when seeds were treated by immersing first and then chilling. Conclusion: The expected promising results in the water imbibition and seed germination will be obtained if old seeds are chilled first and then immersed in water.