Abstract
Supplying high quality seed to rural farmers is the basic requirement for the sustainable development of agriculture in developing countries. The present study was conducted to examine the influence of Lagenaria siceraria seed fermentation method on seed germination and vigor. Three seed fermentation methods (fermented in ambient air, plastic bag stored in ambient or in plastic bag buried) were tested on two cultivars during two years. Seed germination and vigor were better when fermentation was conducted in anaerobic, darkness, and at low temperature. Low seed quality was observed in unfermented seed, suggesting the occurrence of postharvest maturity in L. siceraria. Seed quality did not vary between cultivars. Regardless of the fermentation process and cultivars used, the best seed and seedling qualities were observed when the amount of rainfall during the experiment period was high, suggesting that wet soil is necessary for an on farm reliable evaluation of seed fermentation method in the bottle gourd L. siceraria. Key words: Cucurbit, egussi, maturity, minor crops, oilseed, seedling, viability.
Highlights
The seeds of the oleaginous Lagenaria siceraria are consumed as cake or thickeners of a traditional dish called egussi soup in most countries from Western and Central Africa (Bisognin, 2002; Enujiugha and AyodeleOni, 2003)
In previous investigations, using the oleaginous type of the bottle gourd, we identified the fruit maturity stages at which seed germination and the level of percentage, macronutrients, mineral elements, and vitamins are at their highest values
We report results obtained from a study aimed at determining the influence of seed fermentation method on germination and seedling vigor in two cultivars of the oilseed L. siceraria
Summary
The seeds of the oleaginous Lagenaria siceraria are consumed as cake or thickeners of a traditional dish called egussi soup in most countries from Western and Central Africa (Bisognin, 2002; Enujiugha and AyodeleOni, 2003). This cucurbit is reported to be rich in nutrients (Badifu, 1993), namely protein (36±2.17% of dry content (DC) and fat (45.89±4.73% DC). L. siceraria represents an excellent plant model for which improved cropping systems implementation can insure the economic prosperity of rural people from tropical Africa where the main
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