Effect of low temperature storage on oil palm (Elaeis guineensis Jacq) seed viability

摘要

Oil palm (Elaeis guineensis Jacq.) is the highest edible oil yielding (5- 8 tonnes per ha) perennial crop. Commercially it is propagated through seed. In the processing of hybrid seed leading to development of commercial tenera planting material owingto seasonal maxima in the production of fruit bunches, glut in the production of seed sprouts is a common occurrence in all the seed labs. This necessitates s torage of oil palm seed before processing them for development of seed sprouts. Further cryo-preservation (storage at very low temperature) is the established method for long term conservation of germplasm in many crops. In this backdrop, an attempt is made to find out the effect of low temperature (-4, -20 -40 "C, 23 "C and ambient temperature (uncontrolled room temperature) storage for different durations (15, 30,45, 60, 75 and 90 days) on the viability of oil palm seed. Seed viability measured through tetrazolium staining test was found to lost/disappear when stored at sub-freezing temperatures (-4, -20 and -40 °C) irrespective of the storage duration. Storage at 23 °C or ambient temperature did not affect the viability even after 90 days. It appears that low temperature storage (at sub-freezing temperatures) is not suitable for oil palm seed. The biochemical reactions like fall in the levels of sugars & proteins and the acceleration of lipid peroxidation, however, appears to commence after 60 days of storage. Fresh oil palm seed can be stored up to 90 days at 23 °C without any loss in viability.