Abstract
This work aimed at determining the optimum harvest time of African eggplant (Solanum aethiopicum L.) seeds, cv. Oforiwa and cv. Kpando for maximum physiological seed quality under tropical (TCC) and temperate oceanic climatic (TOC) conditions. Fruit morphological metrics such as fruit weight and size were also related to seed physiological quality. Seeds were harvested at different maturation stages from 20 to 82 days after anthesis (DAA). Seed quality was assessed according to moisture content, dry seed weight, seed length, thousand seed weight, percentage germination and emergence. The results indicated that seeds harvested precociously (20 and 34 days after anthesis), did not germinate or recorded very low percentage germination (0-20%). Considering all the fruit morphological traits and seed quality variables measured, the results indicate that maximum seed quality (that is, germination, emergence, seed weight and mean germination time) are obtained from fruits harvested at 76 DAA. The physiological maturity (PM) (maximum seed dry weight) for cv. Oforiwa was attained at 62 DAA while cv. Kpando took 14 days more to reach physiological maturity but coincided with maximum germination at 76 DAA. The results further showed that fruit characteristics such as weight and size are associated with seed physiological quality in African eggplant. It is thus recommended that fruits of African eggplant cv. Oforiwa and cv. Kpando should be harvested at 70 to 76 DAA for maximum seed germination and emergence. Key words: African eggplant, Solanum aethiopicum, physiological maturity, germination, seed maturation.
Highlights
The Gilo group of the African eggplant (Solanum aethiopicum L.) is one of the most important vegetable crops cultivated by many resource constrained smallholder farmers in West and Central Africa including Ghana (Weinberger and Msuya, 2004; Osei et al., 2010)
The results showed significant difference for seed moisture content and dry seed weight as a function of maturity (p < 0.001) under both environments (Figure 1)
Kpando (76 days after anthesis (DAA)) to attain maximum seed dry weight, when seeds were produced under a tropical climate (TCC, A) (Figure 1A)
Summary
The Gilo group of the African eggplant (Solanum aethiopicum L.) is one of the most important vegetable crops cultivated by many resource constrained smallholder farmers in West and Central Africa including Ghana (Weinberger and Msuya, 2004; Osei et al., 2010). The absence of a reliable seed system for this crop has resulted in reliance on informal seed exchange among farmers and fresh fruit traders. Seeds obtained from these informal, farmer-saved or ‘trader-saved’ sources have low germination and field emergence.
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