Biochemical Changes during the Seed Storage of Mesua ferrea L., A Medicinal Tropical Tree Species

Abstract

Seeds of Mesua ferrea L. shows recalcitrant seed storage behaviour and seeds are viable only for 8-15 days after harvest in normal storage condition. M. ferrea seeds during storage in open laboratory condition at room temperature lost moisture content (MC) and viability within 15 days on the other hand the seeds stored at 10℃ in closed polycarbonate bottles retained MC and the viability was extended to 180 days. Present paper describes biochemical changes viz. total soluble sugar (TSS), starch, total protein, amino acid, lipid and phenol contents during the two storage conditions at different periods together with peroxidase (PO) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) enzyme activities. Increase in the level of TSS, amino acids, lipids, phenols and enzymes PO and SOD recorded during M. ferrea seed storage and their role in desiccation tolerance was evaluated.