SEED QUALITY AND FRUIT MATURATION IN PEPPER Aln, Ö. nd Eser, B. (08), Seed Si. & Tehnol., 36, 467-474 Reserh Note The effet of fruit mturity nd post-hrvest ripening on seed qulity in hot nd oni pepper ultivrs Ö. ALAN AND B. ESER 2 Deprment of Hortiulture, Fulty of Agriulture, Eskisehir Osmngzi University, 26, Eskisehir, Turkey (E-mil:oln@ogu.edu.tr) 2 Deprment of Hortiulture, Fulty of Agriulture, Ege University, 3, Izmir, Turkey (E-mil:enin.eser@ege.edu.tr) (Aepted Mrh 08) Summry In this study, vrition in seed qulity in reltion to fruit mturity nd post-hrvest ripening of fruits were determined in two pepper ultivrs (hot pepper nd oni red pepper). Fruits were hrvested t three mturtion stges (, nd dys fter nthesis) nd seeds were extrted t, nd dys fter eh hrvest. Fruit weight, seed moisture ontent, seed dry weight, 00-seed weight, germintion t 25 nd 5 o C nd vigour (ontrolled deteriortion test t 24% MC nd 45 o C for 24h) were determined. The seeds extrted from fruits hrvested t dys fter nthesis hd less thn % germintion in oth ultivrs. However, when seeds were extrted from fruits ripened for nd dys fter hrvest, their viility nd the vigour inresed to 8% nd 89% in hot pepper nd 77% nd 89% in red pepper, respetively. Seeds from DAA fruits hieved the mximum germintion nd vigour levels in oth ultivrs. Delyed hrvest ( DAA) resulted in signifint deline in seed qulity. Experimentl nd disussion The physiologil qulity of seed hs mjor influene on prodution of vegetle rops (Gurusmy, 999). The qulity of seed produed depends on vrious ftors suh s soil, limte, ulturl prties nd, more importntly, on seed hrvest time to otin mximum seed qulity (Delouhe, 9). In se of fleshy fruit speies, suh s pepper nd tomto, when hrvest is delyed, seed moisture ontent is high enough tht it my result in rpid geing or vivipry (Welum, 993; Oluoh nd Welum, 996; Brdford, 04). Therefore, determining the optimum hrvest time for seeds tht mture within fleshy fruit is espeilly importnt. However, the time of the ttinment of mximum seed qulity during development nd its ssoition with seed nd fruit hrteristis show gret vrition mong ultivrs nd etween lotions. Demir nd Ellis (992, ) reported tht mximum seed qulity hieved fter mximum seed dry mtter umultion, in 467
Ö. ALAN AND B. ESER tomtoes nd ell peppers. In lter work, Demir nd Smit (0) suggested tht the time for hrvest of tomto seeds is relted to the fruit olour nd not to the seed dry weight nd seeds should e hrvested when fruits re red-firm ( DAA). In numer of different speies, suh s uumer (Bredo et l., 994; Nndeesh et l., 995), pepper (Cvero et l., 995) nd muskmelon (Welum nd Brdford, 988) hrvested fruits hve een held for n fter- ripening period, so tht viility nd vigour levels inresed nd immture seeds rehed the qulity of mture seeds. Thus, oth fruit mturity stge nd length of ripening period my ffet seed qulity. Fruit mturity stge nd post-hrvest period need to e determined to mximize seed qulity in rnge of ultivrs nd growing onditions, whih ws the im of this study on pepper. Two pepper (Cpsium nnuum L.) ultivrs whih hve different fruit shpes were used for this study. Plnts of ultivr Ilı-256 (hot pepper) nd Ylov Yglık-28 (oni red pepper) were grown under field ontiditions in Turkey, t Ege University, Odemis Votionl Trining Shool in 04. Seeds were sown in trys of ompost in the lst week of Ferury nd seedlings were trnsplnted into the field in sping of x 35 m, on 29 April. The soil ws sndy lom (69% snd; 24% lom; 7% ly) with.6% orgni mtter nd ph 7.3. Eh tretment ws replited in three rndomised loks with plnts per replite. Plnts were fertilized with the equivlent of kg N, kg P 2 O 5 nd 0 kg K 2 O per hetre (Rymond, 999) during the growing seson for oth ultivrs. Furrow irrigtion ws pplied s needed nd norml ultivtion prties were used. The verge mximum nd minimum tempertures during the whole growing seson were nd o C. Flowers were tgged t nthesis lmost every dy in oth ultvrs etween June 5 nd 25 in 04. Fruits were hrvested, nd dys fter nthesis nd held in mient onditions for post-hrvest ripening. The seeds were extrted from the fruits, in eh se, nd dys fter hrvest (DAH): the fruits were ut nd seeds extrted y hnd. Immeditely fterwrds, seeds were dried on lotting pper t room temperture for three-four dys to <% moisture ontent nd then stored in seled glss jrs t 5 o C. The following prmeters were determined for eh seed smple: Fruit weight: Twenty fruits from eh tretment were weighed individully nd verge fruit weight ws lulted (g/fruit). Seed moisture nd dry mtter ontent: Seed moisture ontent ws determined y the lowonstnt temperture oven method (Interntionl Seed Testing Assoition, 999) 00-seed weight: Eight replites of 0 seeds were ounted nd weighed (g). The verge weight of 00 seeds ws lulted. Germintion tests t different tempertures: Germintion tests were rried out on four replites of 0 seeds t tempertures of 5 nd 25 o C on filter pper in petri dishes nd in the drk for 4 dys. Eh replite ontined doule sheet of pper tht previously moistened with 0.2% KNO 3 solution. Germintion ws onsidered to hve oured when the rdile ws 2 mm long. Germinting seeds were ounted t one dy intervls. 468
SEED QUALITY AND FRUIT MATURATION IN PEPPER Vigour: The ontrolled deteriortion test ws used (Kvk et. l., 04; 05) t 24% seed moisture ontent nd 45 o C for 24 hours. After ontrolled deteriortion, four replites of 0 seeds were germinted t 25 o C s desried ove. Anlysis of vrine ws rried out using SAS sttistil progrm (SAS, 996) nd men differenes were determined y LSD test. For germintion nd seed moisture ontent hrteristis nlysis of vrine were performed on rsin trnsformed perentge dt. In hot pepper, the highest fruit weight ws otined, for ll post-hrvest ripening periods (DAH), from fruits hrvested dys fter nthesis with men weight of 8.0 g (tle ). Fruit weight grdully deresed t lte hrvests of DAA nd DAA (mens of 7. nd 5.8 g, respetively). Similrly the weight of fter-ripened fruits deresed from to dys in the fter-ripening period to.9, 6.0 nd 3.9 g, respetively. The fruit weight of oni red pepper ws lso signifintly ffeted y mturity stge nd post-hrvest period (tle 2). The highest fruit weight ( 94.6 g ) ws otined from fruits hrvested t DAA nd DAH tretment nd the lowest fruit weight ( 45.3 g ) in fruits hrvested t DAA nd held for DAH. Eh dely in post-hrvest period used deline in the fruit weight of red pepper, s seen in hot pepper. The seed moisture ontent differed signifintly mong mturity stges nd posthrvest periods in hot pepper (tle ). The seeds extrted t DAA nd DAH hd higher moisture ontents (57.7%) thn ll others. The minimum moisture ontent (28%) ws reorded from DAA nd DAH seeds. In red pepper, the moisture ontents of seeds hrvested nd DAA were similr (46%) nd were lower thn tht of seeds hrvested t DAA (56.4%; tle 2). In generl, seed moisture ontent deresed with inresing mturity stge nd post-hrvest period. For oth pepper ultivrs, mximum seed dry weight oured in seeds hrvested t nd DAA (tle nd 2), lthough ny differenes in weight were smll. In the posthrvest period, the highest dry weight oured in seeds from DAH, with redued dry weight t nd DAH, for ll three DAA. The 00-seed weight ws gretest for seeds from DAA nd DAH in oth ultivrs. The erlier nd lter hrvests nd longer post-hrvest periods used smll deline in 00-seed weight, with the exeption of red pepper hrvested DAA where 00-seed weight inresed during the post-hrvest period. The germintion (t 25 nd 5 o C) nd vigour of hot pepper is shown in figure. The seeds from DAA fruits hd the lowest germintion t DAH t oth 25 nd 5 o C, eing 48% nd %, respetively. However, germintions t oth tempertures were signifintly higher (ove %) when the seeds were extrted nd dys fter hrvest. Mximum germintion ourred in seeds hrvested t nd DAA, extrted dys fter hrvest. Susequent fter-ripening for nd DAH resulted in redued germintion t oth 25 o C nd 5 o C. The ontrolled deteriortion test reveled signifint differenes in the vigour of hot pepper seeds (figure ). The vigour of seeds from DAA fruits, extrted DAH, DAA fruits, extrted nd DAH ws high nd did not differ signifintly. There ws redution in vigour, to 67% CD germintion, for seeds hrvested DAA even though germintion perentges t oth tempertures were ove %. 469
Ö. ALAN AND B. ESER Tle. Fruit weight (g), seed moisture ontent (%), dry weight (mg/seed) nd 00-seed weight (g) of pepper seeds extrted from fruits t three mturity stges (, nd DAA ) nd three post-hrvest periods (, nd DAH) in hot pepper. Mturity stge Fruit weight (g) Seed moisture ontent (%) Seed dry weight (mg/seed) 00-seed weight (g) Men Men Men Men 2.2 6.8 5.0 8.0 57.7A 39.0B.3C 42.3 5.3 5.2 4.9 5. 5.2A 4.8B 5.A 5.0. 6.0 4.0 7. 48.0A.7B 27.3C 38.7 4.2 3.9 3.9 4.0 5.5A 5.2B 5.3AB 5.3 9.5 5.2 2.6 5.8 44.7A 38.7B 28.0C 37.4 5.3 5.2 5.2 5.3 5.4A 5.4A 5.3A 5.4 Men.9A 6.0B 3.9C.A 39.4 28.9 5.0A 4.8B 4.7B 5.4 5. 5.2 LSD (%5) 0.3 5.7 0.2 0.2 Tle 2. Fruit weight (g), seed moisture ontent (%), dry weight (mg/seed) nd 00-seed weight (g) of pepper seeds extrted from fruits t three mturity stges (, nd DAA) nd three post-hrvest periods (, nd DAH) in oni red pepper. Mturity stge Fruit weight (g) Seed moisture ontent (%) Seed dry weight (mg/seed) 00-seed weight (g) Men Men Men Men 85.6A 64.5B 52.6C 67.6 59.7 57.0 52.7 56.4 6.4 5.8 5.4 5.9 5.2B 5.9A 5.9A 5.7 94.6A 64.B 59.2C 72.8 49.7 47.0 4.7 46. 5.4 5. 5.2 5.3 6.9A 6.7B 6.6B 6.7 6.4A 52.8B 45.3C 53.2 52.3 45.0 42.0 46.4 5.8 5.6 5.5 5.6 6.5A 6.2B 6.0C 6.2 Men.5.6 52.4 53.9A 49.7B 45.4C 5.9A 5.5B 5.4B 6.2 6.3 6.2 LSD (%5) 3.4.8 0.2 0. Mens followed y the sme letter, pitl in eh line nd smll in eh olumn, did not differ signifintly t p=0.05. 4
SEED QUALITY AND FRUIT MATURATION IN PEPPER 0 Dys fter Anthesis 0 25 o C 5 0 0 25 o C Dys fter nthesis 0 Germintion (%) 0 0 Germintion (%) 0 Vigour (%) Germintion (%) Germintion (%) 0 Vigour (%) Figure. Germintion perentges (t 25 nd 5 o C) nd vigour of hot pepper seeds extrted from fruits t three mturity stges (, nd DAA) nd three post-hrvest periods (, nd DAH). (Vlues followed y the sme letter do not differ signifintly t p=0.05) o C 5 o C Figure 2. Germintion perentges (t 25 nd 5 o C) nd vigour of oni red pepper seeds extrted from fruits t three mturity stges (, nd DAA) nd three post-hrvest periods (, nd DAH). (Vlues followed y the sme letter do not differ signifintly t p=0.05). 47
Ö. ALAN AND B. ESER In oni red pepper (figure 2), seeds from DAA, extrted dy fter hrvest, hd low germintion, less thn 5% t oth tempertures. As seen in hot pepper, DAA seeds showed inresed germintion up to 89% with inresing post-hrvest period ( nd DAH). Mximum seed germintion ws ttined from seeds from DAA fruits, the seeds extrted dy fter hrvest t 25 nd 5 o C hving 96% nd 87% germintion respetively. The germintion of the seeds extrted nd dys fter hrvest from the fruits hrvested t DAA fell slightly, ut signifintly, t oth tempertures. Germintions delined little with lte hrvest ( DAA) nd longer post-hrvest periods ( nd DAH). Germintion fter the ontrolled deteriortion test indited tht mximum vigour level for red pepper ourred for the seeds extrted DAH from fruits hrvested DAA (CD germintion 85%) lthough the vigour of seeds from DAA fruits, extrted DAH ws similr (84% germintion fter CD). Seeds from fruits hrvested DAA produed seeds with redued vigour (figure 2). Results in this study showed tht, fruit weight delined with inresing post-hrvest period in pepper wheres the effets of fruit mturtion stge vried ording to ultivr. Mximum fruit weight ws otined from DAA for hot pepper nd DAA for oni red pepper when fruits were in green-firm stge. The dereses in fruit weight t, nd DAA stges nd t DAA nd DAH might e lrgely explined y loss of wter from the fruits. Oliveir et l., (999) reported tht pepper fruits rehed mximum weight t DAA nd exhiited smll red stins with predominene of green olour. In the present study, the seed moisture ontent deresed with inresing fruit mturity stge nd post-hrvest period nd n e relted to desition of the fruits. In generl, the seed moisture ontent rnged etween 27 nd 57% in hot pepper whih hve thin fleshy fruits, nd etween 4 nd 59% in oni red pepper whih hve thik fleshy fruits. The seeds from fruits hrvested nd DAA hd higher seed dry weights thn those hrvested t DAA nd dry weight delined during post-hrvest period. Sine the seeds remin moistened inside the fruit nd tend to respire, the onsumption of umulted reserves n result in some redution of dry mtter (Crvlho nd Nkgw, 00). On the other hnd, Snhez et l. (993) found tht post-hrvest fruit storge did not ffet the seed dry mtter ontent in ell-pepper. Bredo et l. (994) reported tht there ws signifint inrese in seed dry mtter during post-hrvest period due to nutrient trnsfer from the fruit. The seeds hrvested from DAA, extrted dy fter hrvest, hd mximum 00- seed weight nd t this mturtion stge oth ultivrs hd high germintion perentge nd vigour. Nik et. l. (996) lso found tht the 00-seed weight of pepper rehed its mximum when perentge germintion ws lso highest, nd severl uthors (Demir nd Ellis, 992; Gonlves nd Oliveir 998; Oliveri et l., 999) hve noted mximum germintion nd vigour when pepper fruits re hrvested - DAA (pproximtely full ripe-red oloured). Seeds of oth hot nd oni red pepper from DAA fruits, showed enhned seed viility nd vigour, to the sme level s older seeds, following n fter-ripening period for nd dys fter hrvest. In ell nd jlpeno pepper, germintion ws lso inresed y llowing seeds to remin in hrvested green fruit ( DAA) nd red-mture ( DAA) for up to -4 dys prior to extrtion (Snhez et l., 993; Aost-Rodriguez et l., 472
SEED QUALITY AND FRUIT MATURATION IN PEPPER 994). Dis et l. (06) suggested tht the seeds held t moisture level lose to full imiition, with suffiient oxygen supply, ut with germintion prevented, mintin their viility for onsiderle periods, euse suh onditions promoted ellulr repir, whih mintined viility. In ontrst to the erlier hrvest time ( DAA), the effet of posthrvest periods following hrvest t DAA reveled smll fll in oth germintion nd vigour of oth ultivrs. Delying hrvest ( DAA) nd holding the fruits for fter-ripening resulted in ler redution in seed qulity. Eh dely post-hrvest period lso used deomposition in fruits nd vivipry in oth pepper ultivrs. Aording to Brdford (04), fleshy fruit seeds re prevented from germinting preoiously in the fruit y oth hormonl ontrols erly in development nd y the osmoti potentil of the fruit lter in development. Mximum seed qulity oinides losely with the initition of fruit ripening, seed qulity delining in overripe fruits. In ddition seeds my germinte viviprously in overripe fruits due to their deresed sensivity to osmoti inhiition. Physiologil germintion ws the riterion used in the ssessment of germintion in this work, wheres the prodution of norml seeedlings is the riterion usully used in routine seed testing. The norml germintion perentge would hve een, in generl, lower thn the physiologil germintion perentge reported here. Where norml germintion is redued, this results from n inrese in the prodution of norml seedlings s result of geing. The CD test uses the geing proess to revel vigour differenes. Thus when CD germintion is low, this is inditive of geing. A seed smple hving low CD germintion, ut high physiologil germintion, would therefore e likely to hve redued norml germintion (%) in the stndrd germintion test due to prodution of norml seedlings. Thus where lower germintions our fter CD, this would e inditive of redued seed qulity, whih would e reveled in norml germintion s well s physiologil germintion. It n e onluded tht pepper seeds should e hrvested - DAA mturity stge when fruits fully red nd egn to wrinkle. A post-hrvest period n improve seed qulity for erly hrvests ( DAA). In generl, lte hrvests ( DAA) resulted in redution in pepper seed qulity. Referenes Aost-Rodriguez, G.F., Bustmnte-Gri, L.A. nd Esprz-Mrtinez, J.H. (994). Effet of fruit ripeness nd the durtion of posthrvest ripening on seed qulity in Jlpeno hilli. Revist-Fitoteni-Mexin, 7, 55-56. Bredo, C.J., Nkgw, J., Bredo, A.S.C. nd Znin, A.C.W. (994). Effet of fruit ge nd durtion of the post-hrvest period on seed qulity in the uumer ultivr Rui. Hortiultur-Brsileri, 2,8-24. Brdford, K.J. (04). Seed prodution nd qulity. College of Agriulturl&Enviromentl Sienes, http:// veghome.udvis.edu, 3-57. Crvlho, N.M. nd Nkgw, J. (00). Sementes: ieni, tenologi e produo. (Seeds: siene, tehnology nd prodution). 4. ed. Funep, Jotil, 588 p. Cvero, J., Orteg, R.G. nd Zrzog, C. (995). Influene of fruit ripeness t the time of seed extrtion on pepper (Cpsium nnuum) seed germintion. Sienti Hortiulture,, 345-352. Delouhe, I.C. (9). Enviromentl effets on seed development nd seed qulity. Hortsiene, 5, 775-7. 473
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