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Petroleum flotation technique upgrades the germinability of Casuarina equisetifolia seed lots

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Abstract

The germination of Casuarina equisetifolia Forst seed lots is low (40–50%) even when freshly collected. This study aimed at upgrading the germination performance by removing non-germinable seeds using petroleum flotation technique. Seeds collected from 19 individual trees in seedling seed orchards in India were assessed using X-ray to determine the proportion of different seed lot fractions. The feasibility of petroleum ether as a separation medium was tested. Morphological characters of floating and sunken seeds were further studied using image analysis technique to examine their effects on the separation efficiency. The X-ray analysis revealed a large quantity of shrivelled, empty and insect-damaged seeds, altogether accounting 50%, which were the causes of low percentage germination of un-graded seed lots (48%). Petroleum flotation resulted in 90% germination in the sunken fraction and 4% in the floating fraction. The separation was distinct for most seed lots, except few seed lots that had relatively low germination in the sunken fractions and more than 10% germination in the floating fractions. As a whole, petroleum flotation appears to be a feasible technique to upgrade the germination of C. equisetifolia seed lots, and its efficacy is influenced by wing surface area, seed density and wing quotient of filled and empty seeds.

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Acknowledgements

Authors are grateful to Mr. B. Nagarajan and Mr. A. Nicodemus for reading the draft manuscript and providing valuable suggestions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Seed Technology, Institute of Forest Genetics and Tree Breeding, Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education, P. B No. 1061, Coimbatore, 641002, India

    V. Sivakumar, R. Anandalakshmi, R. R. Warrier & B. G. Singh

  2. Department of Forest Genetics and Plant Physiology, Seed Laboratory and Tropical Silviculture Group, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, 901 83, Umea, Sweden

    Mulualem Tigabu & P. C. Odén

Authors
  1. V. Sivakumar
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  2. R. Anandalakshmi
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  3. R. R. Warrier
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  4. B. G. Singh
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  5. Mulualem Tigabu
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  6. P. C. Odén
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Correspondence to Mulualem Tigabu.

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Sivakumar, V., Anandalakshmi, R., Warrier, R.R. et al. Petroleum flotation technique upgrades the germinability of Casuarina equisetifolia seed lots. New Forests 34, 281–291 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11056-007-9055-6

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