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International Journal of Scientific and Research Publications, Volume 5, Issue 3, March 2015 1
ISSN 2250-3153
www.ijsrp.org
Germination Response of Eggplant (Solanum melongena
L.) Seeds to Different Vinegar Concentration as Seed
Priming Agents
Leif Marvin R. Gonzales *
*Capiz State University-Pontevedra Campus, Bailan, Pontevedra, Capiz, Philippines
Abstract- Priming materials are important to enhance
germination ability of seeds. One of the materials used was
vinegar. This study was conducted to determine effect of vinegar
on the germination of eggplant seeds and to identify, which
vinegar concentration is suitable for seeds germination. A petri
dish method was used in this study with six treatments, replicated
three times and arranged Completely Randomized Design
(CRD). The treatments composed of five vinegar concentration
(10, 1, 0.1, 0.01 and 0.001%) and a control. The parameters
includes germination percentage, germination rate and
germination index. The result showed that application of 0.001%
vinegar concentration showed significant effects in terms of
percent germination and germination rate. Application of 10%
vinegar concentration has detrimental effect of eggplant seeds.
Thus, application of vinegar with 0.001% concentration is
effective in germination of eggplant seeds.
Index Terms- germination index, germination percentage,
germination rate, priming agent, Solanum melongena L
I. INTRODUCTION
ggplant (Solunum melongena L.) is a plant of the family
Solanaceae (also known as the nightshades) and from genus
Solanum. Eggplant is well regarded among the vegetables
increasingly sought by consumers, whose demand for food with
potential health promoting effects, such as disease prevention, is
escalating (Cardoso et al., 2009). It is said that eggplant fruits
associate good nutritional value (Ribeiro et al., 1998) and
therapeutic properties (Reis et al., 2007).
According to Bajehbaj (2010) that seed priming is an
efficient method for increasing seed vigor and synchronization of
germination, and in addition the growth of seedlings of many
crops under stressful conditions. Heydecker and Coolbear (1977)
stated that one of the long known main merits of priming
treatments is to increase germination and emergence rate.
The advantage of seed priming is reducing the
germination time and improving emergence in field and
laboratory conditions. However, few detailed studies have been
reported on the performance of osmotically treated seeds under
field conditions. Priming of aged seeds of okra resulted in good
germination and establishment in the field trials (Sanjaykumar et
al., 1996). There are a lot of benefits derived from seed priming
particularly in all crops which included; faster emergence, more
and uniform stands, less need to re-sow, more vigorous plants,
drought tolerance, earlier flowering, earlier harvest maturity and
higher seed yield (Chavan et al.,2014; Harris et al.,2001 and
Assefa, 2008.). One of priming material used in seed germination
is vinegar.
Evans and Blazich (1914) stated that vinegar is safer
and can be used for species that do not have an extremely hard
seed coat; the technique is the same as with sulfuric acid.
According to Tóbiás, et.al, (2007), vinegar types seem to be
environmental friendly, cheap, and perspective dressing materials
in ecological seed treatment. Acetic acid, in vinegar, is one of the
most anciently used preservatives. Acetic acid is still examined
in other countries as seed treating material, but it was applied
only against fungi in arable cultures. Other examinations are also
developed new adequate methods for seed treatment in
ecological vegetable production, for example: natural compounds
(Tinivella et al., 2004), plant extracts (Hartman et al., 1995),
essential oils, and natural acids), antagonistic microorganisms,
physical treatments (aerated steam treatment, hot water treatment
(Roberts et al., 2006). Vinegar also changes pH, so the new
environment is not suitable for bacteria. Acetic acid is a natural
substance with low oral toxicity to humans, birds, and others who
have contact with it (Borgen, 2001). Hence, this study was
conducted to determine effect of vinegar as priming agents on
seed germination of eggplant seeds and to identify which vinegar
concentration suitable for eggplant seeds germination.
II. METHODOLOGY
A. Seed Materials
Seeds of eggplant were obtained from the Department of
Horticulture, Seed Physiology Laboratory, Visayas State
University, Visca, Baybay City, Leyte. Viable seeds with
uniform size were selected for this experiment.
B. Seed Treatment
All the seeds of eggplant were disinfected with ethanol 70%
for three minutes and rinsed three times with distilled/sterilized
water, before treatments.
C. Experimental Treatment and Design
Vinegar as priming materials was used in this study using
Completely Randomized Design (CRD), with the following
concentration as a treatment:
E
International Journal of Scientific and Research Publications, Volume 5, Issue 3, March 2015 2
ISSN 2250-3153
www.ijsrp.org
Treatments:
T1 = control (distilled water)
T2 = 10% vinegar
T3 = 1% vinegar
T4 = 0.1% vinegar
T5 = 0.01% vinegar
T6 = 0.001% vinegar
D. Vinegar Solution Preparation
Six beakers, cleaned with a 10% bleach solution and
distilled water, was labeled with their corresponding vinegar
concentration. The first beaker was filled with 50 mL of 100%
vinegar. A pipette was next used to transfer 5 mL of the 100%
solution to the second beaker (labeled 10%). Additionally, 45 mL
of distilled water was added to the second beaker, and it was
gently swirled. Likewise, 5 ml of the 10% solution was
transferred to the third beaker (labeled 1%). It was diluted with
45 mL of distilled water and swirled. This dilution process was
repeated for the remaining three solutions (0.1%, 0.01%, and
0.001%). Eggplant seeds were soaked in a 10% bleach solution
for five minutes, rinsed with distilled water, and drained. Three
of the Petri plates were labeled as “control”, while the remaining
Petri plates were labeled with vinegar concentration (3 Petri
plates per concentration). The appropriate vinegar solution was
added to each of the Petri dishes (2 ml per dish), and distilled
water was added to the control dishes. In an even-spaced fashion,
ten soaked eggplant seeds was added to each dish. Finally, the
Petri dishes will be wrapped in bond paper and allowed to sit at
room temperature for five days. After this time, seeds were
examined for germination (Potts, 2008).
E. Distilled Water Application
Seeds were placed into Petri dishes with filter paper moisten
with distilled water. The Petri dishes were covered with bond
paper, and the seeds were incubated at 20°C in the room
temperature, because the seeds germinate favorably under these
conditions. The experiments were directed in triple replication
with 10 seeds per replicate.
F. Measurement of Germination
After priming, seed germination tests were carried out. Ten
seeds each for each treatment were placed in Petri dishes with
filter paper and each experiment was replicated three times.
Seeds were considered germinated when there was a visible
coleoptiles protrusion through the testa.
G. Data Gathered
Germination tests
The germination percentage is an estimate of the viability of
seeds. Germinated seeds were counted daily for 14 days. Seeds
were also considered germinated upon emergence of radicles (≥
2 mm) (Sharma and Sharma, 2010). The following germination
parameters were recorded:
1. Germination percentage (Gp) = (# seeds sprouted/ #total seeds
sprouted) x 100
2. Germination rate (Gr) was calculated using the following
formula:
Where, GT is seeds germinated each day and T refers to the day
during the trial (Siti Aishah, et al, 2010).
3. The germination index (GI) was calculated as described in the
Association of Official Seed Analysts (AOSA, 1983) by
following formula:
No. of germinated seed No. of germinated seed
GI= ------------------------ + - -+ --------------------------------
Days of first count Days of final count
H. Data analysis
The data was by one-way ANOVA for completely
randomized design (CRD). The means were compared using
Tukey’s Studentized Range (HSD) tests using the Statistical
Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) ver. 15 and Statistic 6.
III. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
Effect of vinegar on percentage seed germination
The number of seed germinated using vinegar as priming
agent showed significant differences among treatments on the 7th
and 11th day of germination but insignificant effect was observed
on the 9th day after seeding (DAS) (Figure 1). On the 7th day the
treatment 6 (0.001%) showed higher number of seed germinated
compare other treatments but still comparable to control
treatment and treatment 4 (0.1%) while on 11th day, similar
pattern were observed in control, treatment 4 (0.1%), and
treatment 6 (0.001%). This greatly explains that the use of
vinegar as priming agent showed significant effect in
germinating seeds, particularly in increasing the number of
germination in early days such as on 7th day and 11th day. The
result of this study was in agreement with the experiment of
Borgen (2001) on vinegar in relation with concentrations’ effect
and germination ability. Higher concentration have negative
effect on seed germination ability seems to be proportional to the
applied dose. In his study 0.5% of red and white wine vinegar
and 5% of white wine vinegar have simulative effect on
germination ability. In the experiments of Lövinson (1900) it
retarded the germination of peas.
Figure 1. Effect of vinegar on seed germination percentage
Effect of vinegar on germination rate and germination index
Germination rate provides a measure of time course of
seed germination (Saupe, 2009). The result showed that in
treatment 6 (0.001%) of vinegar, obtained higher rate of seed
International Journal of Scientific and Research Publications, Volume 5, Issue 3, March 2015 3
ISSN 2250-3153
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germination compared to other treatment but statistically
comparable to control, T3, T4 and T5 (Figure 2). This can be
noted that vinegar had significantly influenced the germination
rate of eggplant seeds. This result is in agreement with the study
of Tobias et al. (2007) on the germination ability test of vinegar
in which the result did not show negative effect on seed
germination ability with the use of vinegar except the vinegar in
5% concentration. On the other hand, the significant positive
effect on was the germination ability. They also noted that the
low concentration (0.5%) of red and white wine vinegar mend
the germination capacity, but this effect is not significant. In the
experiment of Tobias et al. (2007), results showed that the
examined bacterial strains were more sensitive to acidic than
alkaline circumstances and it was noticed on their experiment
that the lowest examined concentration (0.5%) of vinegars had
also bactericide impact. They also stated that in the alkaline
materials it is necessary to use higher concentration of at least pH
13 (1.5% NaOH), but it had not impact in all case. They further
noted that the highest soluble concentration of NaHCO3 was
10% (pH 9). They concluded that all examined vinegar types
could be useful in biological plant protection systems against
bacterial diseases of tomato and pepper. However, Ling et al.
(2009) noted that the germination indexes not on1y contained the
number of germination, but a1so emphasized germination
velocity and it was noticed that the seeds at different time p1ayed
different roles in germination index. Therefore, germination
index were a good indicator of seed vigor. However, the results
of this study showed that a non-significant difference was
observed on the germination index as applied with different
concentration of vinegar (Figure 3).
Figure 2. Effect of vinegar on germination rate
Figure 3. Effect of vinegar on germination index
IV. CONCLUSION
It can be concluded that the used of vinegar as priming
material is effective in germinating the seeds. Application of
0.001% concentration showed significant effects on percent
germination and germination rate. Thus, application of vinegar
with 0.001% concentration has proved to have best effect on
germination of eggplant seeds and application of 10% vinegar
concentration showing detrimental effect.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
I would like to acknowledge the helped of my very special
friends Miss Maita L. Aban from Kanlaon Dormitory, Visayas
State University, Visca, Baybay City, Leyte .
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AUTHORS
First Author – Leif Marvin R. Gonzales, MS in Horticulture,
Capiz State University – Pontevedra Campus, Capiz, Philippines
Email address: gleifmarvin@yahoo.com.
Correspondence Author – Leif Marvin R. Gonzales
Email address:gleifmarvin@yahoo.com
Contact number: +639358183282
