Enhancing the Viability of Sweet Pepper Synthetic Seed Using Abscisic Acid

Abstract

The somatic embryos obtained from callus culture were treated with 0, 0.05, 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4, 0.5 and 1 mg/l ABA in MS medium (maturation formula) for 21 days. Then the seed encapsulation and the synthetic seed dehydration were pursued until the seeds lost 80 percent of their moisture contents. The results showed that the survival percentages were 33, 36, 47, 43, 55, 73, 83 and 37, respectively. Therefore, somatic embryos treated with 0.5 mg/l ABA improved survival rate of synthetic seeds dramatically. The ABA treated somatic embryos encapsulated with 3 percent w/v sodium alginate and 75 mM calcium chloride could  prolong their germination for 6 weeks after storage at 25±2°C, with 16 hours photoperiod. The 6 weeks stored synthetic seeds had 63% survival rate  after 6 days planting in MS media. The experimental results suggested the possibllity of ABA for germination and storage improvement of dry sweet pepper synthetic seeds.