PRE-HARVEST TREATMENT EFFECTS ON SOME QUALITY CRITERIA OF PEA SEEDS

A laboratory procedure was developed to allow the electroconductivity of the leachate from a single pea seed to be determined and then to permit the same seed to be used for a laboratory germination test and a hollow heart assessment.
Results of tests on four distinct lines of commercial pea seed showed that leachate electroconductivity was highest from seeds which failed to germinate, and lowest from those seeds which produced a normal seedling, with abnormal seedlings having an intermediate level.
Seeds which produced seedlings with hollow heart symptoms had electroconductivities similar to those which produced normal seedlings.

Additional studies showed that the laboratory germination improved and electroconductivity decreased with delayed harvest, with lower seed drying temperatures, and with a decrease in seed moisture content.
Moisture stress and temperature conditions during growth prior to harvest had only a small effect on the seed quality assessments.
The incidence of hollow heart was low throughout the studies and occurred mainly on individual plants rather than generally throughout the whole population.
Where present hollow heart occurred in seeds from earlier harvests which had a high moisture content.

Symposium on Seed Problems in Horticulture

M.A. Nichols, D.J. Scott, I.J. Warrington, L.M. Green

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.1978.83.15