Improvement of eggplant seed germination and seedling emergence at low temperature by seed priming with incorporation SA into KNO3 solution

Abstract

The effects of incorporation SA into KNO3 priming solution on the germination and emergence of eggplant seeds at 15°C were investigated. Seeds were primed into 3% KNO3 containing 0.05, 0.1, 0.5, or 1mM salicylic acid (SA) for 6 days, respectively. After the priming, seeds were either immediately used for germination and emergence test at 15°C or stored at 4°C for 1 month and then for the germination test. The primed eggplant seeds in general improved the final germination percentage (FGP), germination rate (G50), and germination synchrony (E10–90) at 15°C compared with non-priming seeds. Priming seeds in 3% KNO3 solution supplement with 0.1mM SA resulted in the best priming effect compared with other priming treatments and non-priming treatment, and all of the beneficial priming effects were still retained after stored at 4°C for 30 days. These results indicated that priming seeds in 3% KNO3 solution containing 0.1mM SA could be used as an effective method to improve low-temperature performance of eggplant seeds and subsequent seedling growth.