The Effect of Seed Priming with Different Concentrations of Ascorbic Acid on Germination and Vigor of Cumine (Cumin cyminum L.) under Saline Conditions

Abstract

In order to evaluate the effects of seed priming with ascorbic acid at different concentrations on germination and seedling growth of Cumin (cuminum cyminum) under salt stress, an experiment was conducted at the Department of Agronomy, Faculty of Agriculture, Urmia University, West Azerbaijan, Iran in 2015. The two treatment factors were salinity stress in four levels (0, 50, 100, 150 Nacl mM) and seed priming with ascorbic acid at four concentrations (0, 15, 20 and 25 mM). The experimental design was two factor factorial arranged in completely randomized design (CRD) with three replications. Final germination percentage (FG%), mean germination time (MGT), shoot and root length, seedling length (SL), the fresh and dry weight of the seedlings (FWS) (DWS) and seedling vigor index (SVI) were evaluated at the end of the experiment. Factors were statistically significant on all studied traits. Moreover, a significant of two way interaction (salinity stress × seed priming) was found in final germination percentage (FG %), mean germination time (MGT) and seedling fresh weight (SFW). The results clearly showed that presowing treatments with ascorbic acid can improve the germination process seed vigor, especially under saline conditions and the optimum concentrations of ascorbic acid in order to promote germination and seedling growth of cumin seeds were 20mM and 25mM ascorbic acid.