Germination and growth of dature innoxia mill i in vitro studies on the effect of pre-sowing seed treatment with selected vitamins on germination and seedling growth

ABSTRACT

An inexpensive technique for ensuring high percentage of in vitro seed germination of Datura innoxia Mill. a hard to germinate medicinal plant producing scopolamine, was tested successfully in a factorial randomised experiment. Assay of seeds for their native vitamin B1, B6 and C contents revealed very low concentrations. They were, therefore, treated for 18 h at 20°C with 0, 250, 500, 750 or 1,000 ppm of these three vitamins as well as B-complex and incubated in petri dishes for 5 weeks. Counts, made at weekly intervals, indicated 28 days as the optimal stage for germination. Growth parameters, studied at 35 days were found to be significantly affected by all treatments at P=0.05. Out of the four vitamins treated, B6 and, among the concentrations, 500 ppm alone and in combination proved most efficacious in breaking seed dormancy and accelerating early seedling growth of D. innoxia