EFFECT OF SEED SCARIFICATION ON IN VITRO SEED GERMINATION OF ABRUS PRECATORIUS L.

Abrus precatorius is the native plant of India and used in many ways in the Indian Ayurvedic system of medicine. This seeds of the species is dormant due to hard seed coat. So the aim of the study is to remove seed dormancy and enhance germination capacity within a short period. To overcome the problem of dormancy, seeds were scarified by seed scarifier, sand paper, hot water treatment, DMSO and different acid scarification (H 2 SO 4 , HNO 3 ) just before sowing. 50-100% germination was achieved under different treatment conditions while the seeds without any treatment fail to germinate. The highest (100%) germination was observed within 4 days at 30 0 C after sowing in seeds treated with concentrated H 2 SO 4 for 120 minutes. 70-85% germination was achieved when the seeds were treated with acid for 60 and 90 minutes. Seeds treated with sand paper showed similar results with 60-65% germination. The seeds scarified by a mechanical scarifier, picking with needle and treated with hot water did not show more than 25% germination after 7 days.