Seed Germination Improvement in Two Threatened Medicinal Plants

Afrida Hussain, Dhruva K. Jha*

Department of Botany, Gauhati University, Guwahati, Assam, India.

DOI : http://dx.doi.org/10.12944/CARJ.2.2.10

Abstract:

Rauvolfia serpentina (L.) Benth. ex Kurz. and R. tetraphylla L. are threatened because of extensive utilization for their wide ranging medicinal applications. The seed mediated propagation is unsatisfactory due to dormancy and poor germination percentage. This however, decelerates the conservation strategy of these species. Thus, efforts were made in this study to break dormancy and improve germination of seeds of the two species for boosting conservation. The viability of R. serpentina and R. tetraphylla were found to be 67% and 82% respectively. Germination percentage of treated R. serpentina seeds showed improved germination percentage of 34.94% (H₂O₂) and 48.65% (GA₃) over control (11.27%). The germination percentages of treated R. tetraphylla seeds were improved to 52.70% (KNO₃) and 56.66% (GA₃) as compared to untreated seeds (31.26%). Temperature also influenced the germination percentage and the highest germination percentage was obtained at 35^oC and 30^oC respectively in R. serpentina and R. tetraphylla. Results of the treatments indicate the presence of coat induced and non-deep physiological dormancy in both these species. The datas were statistically analyzed by analysis of variance (P<0.01).

Keywords:

R. Serpentina; R. Tetraphylla; Germination; Dormancy

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