Predicting the Seed Vigor of Grass Pea (Lathyrus sativus L.) Seeds by Counting Single Radicle Emergence

Year 2025, Volume: 9 Issue: 3, 783 - 789, 27.09.2025

Negar Tebrizli , Abdullah Çil

https://doi.org/10.31015/2025.3.17

Abstract

The radicle emergence (RE) test is considered a useful method for classifying seed vigor and has the potential to become a fast and dependable tool for automated seed quality assessment. However, this approach hasn’t been explored in grass pea so far. Currently, there is no standardized test available to predict seed vigor in grass pea. The purpose of this study was to compare the radicle emergence (RE) test with germination percentage (GP), mean germination time (MGT), electrical conductivity (EC) and field emergence (FE), with using 9 seed lots of Lathyrus sativus L. and investigate whether radicle emergence (RE) could accurately predict emergence of seedlings in the seed lots of Lathyrus sativus L. Single counts of radicle emergence can be a useful and simple way to test the vigor of grass pea seeds and help predict how well they will emerge in the field, evaluate seed vigor and consequently provide the basis of a protocol for RE test for Lathyrus sativus L. seed lots. Variation in seedling number was calculated by the MGT. There was regression correlation between MGT and FE was determined as R2 = -0.44 (P<0.05), the result was determined between FE and RE48h as R2=0.62 (P<0.01). Since the degree of significance of the FE-RE 48h relationship is higher than the degree of significance of the MGT-FE relationship, the RE value obtained at the end of 48 hours with Lathyrus sativus L. can be used in FE estimates by revealing the power differences between genotypes in a shorter period of time The results concluded that variation in germination time was an early indicator of seed vigor. The strong relationship between RE and FE at 48h proved that RE could be used as an alternative test to investigate seed vigor in the Lathyrus sativus L.

Keywords

Field emergence test , Germination , Lathyrus sativus L , Radicle emergence test , Vigor

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