Abstract
In this research, the effects of hidropriming (HP), ozmopriming (OP) and thermopriming (TP) treatments on seed quality in Kemer 27 eggplant variety seeds were investigated. Eggplant cv..Kemer 27 (K) seeds which harvested at different maturity levels (50,55,60,70,80 and 90. days after flowering) were subjected to OP treatments at 15 and 35 0C for 8 hours (4:4 / in the dark-light condition) with 10% PEG-6000 solution, HP treatments at 15 and 35 0C (4:4 / dark-light condition) for 8 hours with distilled water and TP treatments were applied in water bath for two different times (15 and 30 minutes) at 50 °C. Change of seed moisture levels were determined in control and priming groups in all cultivars. At the end of the experiments; all priming treatments of eggplant seeds were evaluated on the basis of viability (mean germination rate and time, seedling root-shoot length, changes of moisture). Generally, when the analyzed parameters were evaluated, it was seen that the priming positive effect was related to the maturity of the seeds. According to Duncan test results, it was determined that the difference between harvest time, priming and interactions in terms of total and normal germination rates (%) and moisture content (%) was statistically significant (p≤0.05, 0.01) at varying levels. Regarding to the root and shoot lengths (mm), the difference between harvest times was found to be statistically significant (p <0.01). With this study, especially TP treatment used in eggplant seeds was more effective on germination performance than other priming methods. This technique, which is made without chemicals, can be applied especially in organic seeds as it also reduces input costs.