Effect of seed priming on physiological and biochemical parameters of cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) seeds

Abstract

A study was undertaken to study the effect of different priming treatments on cucumber var. Punjab Naveen. Different concentrations of priming treatments viz. K2HPO4, KH2PO4, hydroxyurea, GA3, ethrel, benzyl adenine, mimosine, KNO3, ZnSO4 and hydro priming were given, and parameters were recorded. Among the treatments, GA3 150 ppm improved shoot length (14.93 cm), mean seedling length (26.99 cm) and SVI-I (2699) in comparison to the control. Seed treatment with Ethrel 50 ppm gave the highest speed of germination (4.33) with less mean germination time (2.43). The highest mean seedling dry weight (9.36 mg) and SVI-II (927) were reported with ZnSO4 0.5%. Similarly, total soluble sugars (8.40 mg g-1FW), α-amylase activity (2.49 mg maltose min-1 mg-1 protein) and dehydrogenase activity (0.544) improved with ethrel 50 ppm while K2HPO4 10-3M improved membrane stability index (64.38%) with highest protein content (183.01 mg g-1FW). The activity of antioxidant enzymes like catalase (51.3 μ moles min-1 mg-1 protein) and peroxidase (3.07 ΔA min-1 mg-1 protein) was found highest with benzyl adenine 50 ppm along with reduced lipid peroxidation (0.21 μ moles MDA g-1FW). Hydroxyurea 50 mM gave the highest Total phenol content (5.38 mg g-1FW). The results indicated that priming with growth regulators improved various germination and vigor-contributing characters, along with enhanced enzymatic activity and lesser lipid peroxidation.