INFLUENCE OF THE CONDITIONS OF STORAGE ON THE SEED QUALITY OF STEVIA REBAUDIANA (BERTONI) BERTONI

Stevia rebaudiana (Bertoni) Bertoni is a native species of Northeast Paraguay, which has been used for its sweetening properties for many years.
In Córdoba Province there is no research work related to different growing conditions nor to seed storage.

The aim of this paper was to determine the influence of two storage conditions over the germinative power, vigour and germinative energy of S. rebaudiana. At the beginning of May 1996, the seeds were harvested in Bower, Santa María, in Córdoba Province, Argentina.
Repetitions of one hundred seeds were sown following a completely randomized design at the Seeds Analysis Laboratory of the Faculty of Agricultural Science, University of Córdoba.
These were stored for 11 months at 4°C and at environmental temperature and moisture.
The normal seedling number was recorded at six dates and, at the end of this study, the fresh and dry weights were obtained.
The number of abnormal seedlings was also evaluated.

For the six dates studied, there were highly significant differences between the two ways of storage, as to the germinative power, showing that the conservation in the refrigerator at 4°C can be recommended for this species.

Differences were observed between the fresh and dry weight of the normal seedlings, showing that the storing condition in the refrigerator, produced higher average values, at the same time presenting more vigorous seeds than those in the other treatment.

Concerning the number of abnormal seedlings, significant differences were not found.

II WOCMAP Congress Medicinal and Aromatic Plants, Part 3: Agricultural Production, Post Harvest Techniques, Biotechnology

C. Cabanillas, M.P. Díaz

germination power, temperature treatments, time, effect, vigour

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.1999.502.41