Effects of fruit age, fermentation and storage on germination of cucurbit seeds

Abstract

The effects of fruit age, fermentation and storage on germinability and leakage from seeds of one cultivar of each of four cucurbit crops, cucumber ( Cucumis sativus L. cultivar ‘Bet Alfa’), melon ( Cucumis melo L. ‘Noy Yizre'el’), watermelon ( Citrullus lanatus (Thunb.) Matsum. & Nakai ‘Sugar Baby’) and squash ( Cucurbita pepo L. ‘Vegetable Spaghetti’) were studied under controlled conditions. Generally, germinability was best from fruits which were 49–54 days past anthesis (dpa), the most mature fruits studied. Fermentation of seeds from immature and mature fruits of the cucumber, melon and watermelon was either beneficial, or at least not harmful. However, fermentation of seeds from immature (28 dpa) fruits of the squash cultivar resulted in no germination. Storage for up to 48 months generally did not affect seeds from the most mature fruits. Storage adversely affected germination of seeds from immature (26–28 dpa) fruits of the cucumber, melon and squash, but favorably affected germination of seeds from immature (26 dpa) fruits of the watermelon. Excessive seed leakage and a relatively low ratio of embryo weight to seed coat weight were associated with poor germination.