Abstract:
Cardamom (Elettaria cardamomum) has great commercial value as a spice in Sri
Lanka. Due to the presence of hard seed coat, cardamom has low seed germination
potential. Therefore the present study was conducted to study the potential to improve
the seed germination by applying different mechanical, physical and chemical
treatments and to develop a cost effective and rapid seed germination method in in
vitro conditions.
Complete Randomized Design (CRD) with ten replicates was used for the study.
The seeds of cardamom were treated with 40 different seed treatments and surface
sterilized by using 20% clorex. MS basal medium was used without plant growth
regulators and solidified by 0.6% agar. Anova (DMRT) test showed that there were
significant effects at p<0.05 level on seed germination of cardamom seeds with
different seed treatments.
According to the results 50% HNO3 for 15 min exposure was the best treatment to
obtain higher number of germinated seeds (90%) within 6 weeks upto 0.6 cm height.
The second and third best treatments were 75% HNO3
for 15 min and 75% HNO3
for
10 min which showed 80% and 65% seed germination percentages respectively. This
experiment showed chemical treatment (HNO3
) is the best to induce seed germination
of E. cardamomum in in vitro conditions. The results obtained in this study will be
important for plant breeders and farmers who cultivate these species commercially.
