Efforts to accelerate Dioscorea hispida seed germination as a national food source with light treatment

Abstract

Abstract. Agustin EK. 2020. Efforts to accelerate Dioscorea hispida seed germination as a national food source with light treatment. Pros Sem Nas Masy Biodiv Indon 6: 618-623. Gadung (Dioscorea hispida) is a plant that belongs to the family Dioscoreaceae. These gadung bulbs are one of the alternative food ingredients, therefore propagation efforts should be made. The spread of this plant covers Southeast Asia, Africa, Central America and other tropical or sub-tropical regions, Europe and North America. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of red, far and dark red light on the germination of D. hispida seeds. The light treatments used were red light (25-32°C), far red light (25-30°C), darkroom (18°C) and greenhouse room temperature as a control (24.5-34.7°C). Seed characterization parameters were observed qualitatively and quantitatively. The average water content of Dioscorea hispida seeds is 14.66%. The average fruit length is 47.15 mm, fruit thickness is 1.88 mm, and fruit weight is 1.18 g. The seeds are brown with an average length of 35.69 (seeds+wings), 0.14 thick and weighing 1.98 g. The far red light gives the highest D. hispida germination effect (98.5%), while the lowest germination power is the darkroom or control (28.5%). The red light causes the germination time earlier than the far red light treatment and control.