Improved performance of muskmelon (Cucumis melo) seeds with osmoconditioning

G. Singh, S. S. Gill, Kamaljit K. Sandhu

Abstract


Seeds of muskmelon (Cucuniis melo) cultivars viz Pb. Hybrid and Pb. Sunehri were osmoconditioned with Polyethylene glycol (PEG) and KNO3 solutions to enhance their performance at low temperature. Osmoconditioning both with PEG 6000 and KNO3 increased per cent germination, speed of germination, vigour in terms of dry weight and length of the seedlings and root/shoot ratios. KNO3 priming recorded more pronounced effects in all the above mentioned parameters. Other vigour parameters such as electrical conductance of seed leachates was decreased with osmoconditioning whi]e dehydrogenase activity was enhanced. Osmoconditioning resulted in increased activity of amylases.

Keywords


Muskmelon; seeds; osmoconditioning

Full Text:

PDF


DOI: https://doi.org/10.5586/aa.1999.013

Journal ISSN:
  • 2300-357X (online)
  • 0065-0951 (print; ceased since 2016)
This is an Open Access journal, which distributes its content under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits redistribution, commercial and non-commercial, provided that the content is properly cited.
The journal is a member of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and aims to follow the COPE’s principles.
The journal publisher is a member of the Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association.
The journal content is indexed in Similarity Check, the Crossref initiative to prevent scholarly and professional plagiarism.
Publisher
Polish Botanical Society