Seed viability of Dacryodes edulis (G. Don) H. J. Lam subjected to different lengths of storage

Abstract

Four hundred and fifty seeds of Dacryodes edulis were extracted from mature fruits obtained from the same source. These were divided into five parts and subjected to five treatments thus: T1: Fresh; T2: 7 days storage; T3: 14 days storage; T4: 21 days storage and T5: 28 days storage. Storage was done at room temperature. Each part was weighed in three replicates and then sown in germination box filled with topsoil. Analysis of Variance showed significant difference in seed weight at α = 0.05 although Duncan’s Multiple Range Test revealed that T1 and T2 were not significantly different from each other. Germination was observed on the 17th Day after Sowing (DAS), 21 DAS and 24 DAS for T1, T2 and T3 respectively. Furthermore, T1 had the highest germination percentage of 96.7%, followed by T2 with a value of 70.0% while T3 had the least value of 36.7%. However, seeds in T4 and T5 did not germinate till the experiment was concluded. This study revealed that as length of storage increased, viability of Dacryodes edulis seeds reduced and this knowledge is crucial to its domestication.

Keywords: seed viability, storage, germination, non-timber forest products.