Seed priming with endophytes on physiological, biochemical and antioxidant activity of hybrid maize (Zea mays l.) COH (M) 8 seeds

Endophytes are important microorganisms that enhance the plant's stability through a symbiotic relationship, without any harmful effects and symptoms in the host plant. To study the effect of endophytes on overall performance of COH(M)8 hybrid maize seeds, the present study was conducted with different endophytic seed priming for  12 hrs duration with Beauveria bassiana @ 5% (T2), Metarhizium anisopliae @ 5% (T3) and Bacillus subtilis @ 8% (T4) along with hydro priming (T1) and untreated control (T0).  The seed priming treatments with all the above three endophytes enhanced the seed quality parameters, among which M. anisopliae @ 5% (T3) registered maximum increase of germination (4.34%), shoot length (20.73%), root length (15.04%), dry matter production (15.22%) and vigour index (22.68%) over control. Similarly, the seeds primed with M. anisopliae @ 5% (T3) recorded the highest value of dehydrogenase activity (0.441 OD value), α- amylase activity (2.06 mg maltose min-1) and antioxidant activity viz., catalase (1.55 μmol H2O2 min-1 g-1 protein) and peroxidase  (0.87 U mg-1protein min-1). Results of this study revealed that the endophytes can enhance overall the seed quality in maize

Effect of Seed Testing Temperature on Germination of Bhendi Seed

Temperature is one of the factors which play a major role in deciding the planting value of a seed lot in the seed testing laboratory. The temperature requirement varies with species. High or low temperature may stimulate or inhibit the germination of seeds under testing. The tropical crops may require higher temperature than temperate crops for germination. Eventhough, a seed lot is having high germination and vigour parameter, it could be revealed with suitable seed testing temperature only. Since bhendi is a tropical vegetable crop, two varieties of bhendi, Arka Anamika and CO4 with each five different lots were tested with four different temperature regimes viz., 15, 20, 25 and 30ºC. The experimental results revealed that bhendi seeds performed well at the temperature regime of 30ºC followed by 25ºC which was on par with each other. It was also accompanied with seed quality characteristics of seedling length, vigour index and dry matter production of seedlings. Irrespective of varieties and lots studied, the high temperature showed its superiority over other temperatures. The study also disclosed that the low temperature of 15ºC was not suitable for bhendi seed germination, because none of the seeds produced normal seedling. At low temperature seeds could produce more abnormal seedlings than rest of the temperature regimes studied. It could be inferred that the seed testing temperature suitable for bhendi seed germination is 30°C or 25°C. Low temperature (15°C) is not suitable, since the normal seedlings were not produced at this temperature

Medicinal Plants of India

Crude extracts of fruits, herbs, vegetables, cereals and other plant materials rich in phenolics and antioxidant activity are of prime interest to the food industry because of their ability to retard oxidative degradation of lipids and hence improve the quality and nutritional value of functional food. Concomitantly, the importance of antioxidant constituents of plant materials in the maintenance of health and protection from coronary heart disease and cancer is also raising interest among scientists, food manufacturers and consumers as part of the current trend towards the use of herbal medicine. In addition, the use of complementary alternative medicine (CAM) by patients suffering from chronic disorders, such as cancers, heart, stroke and immune disorders has been well documented. CAMs are either used on their own (alternative treatments) or in addition to conventional medicine (complementary treatments). CAMs can be grouped into herbal medicines derived from medicinal plants, food supplements that include vitamin preparations, trace elements and other substances such as omega-3 fatty acid