Effect of high temperatures on seed germination of Solanum aculeastrum

S. Koduru, D. S. Grierson, A. J. Afolayan

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

6 Scopus citations

Abstract

Solanum aculeastrum is a medicinal plant that showed low seed germination under laboratory conditions. The objective of this study was to establish whether germination could be improved by the exposure of its seeds to high temperatures such as those registered on surface soils during natural fires. Our results indicated that temperatures of 100 and 120°C applied to green mature seeds of S. aculeastrum, for 45 to 60 min may break their innate dormancy, thus stimulating their subsequent germination to more than 85%. Germination in dry seeds, however, showed very low germination when subjected to high temperatures. Where the effect of smoke was tested on the germination of the green mature and dry seeds of S. aculeastrum, no stimulation of germination was observed. The ecological implications of these observations are discussed.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)353-356
Number of pages4
JournalAsian Journal of Plant Sciences
Volume5
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - 2006

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Agronomy and Crop Science
  • Plant Science

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Effect of high temperatures on seed germination of Solanum aculeastrum'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this