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Prickly pear cactus (Opuntia sp.) is a major plant genus in arid and semiarid lands, due to its abundance, valuable contribution to human diet and use in animal feed. It also has a role in desertification control. Physiological assays on Opuntia seedlings and comparison among species are limited due to the lack of germination and seedling development methodologies. The purpose of this research was to assess the seed germination and the speed of emergence in four species: O. engelmannii, O. microdasys, O. rastrera and O. megacantha, distributed around Coahuila’s Southeastern region in Mexico. We used a completely random experimental design with 23 pre-germination treatments and 4 replications. Seeds of 16 treatments were sown in Peat Moss and Perlite; while the seeds of seven treatments were placed at in vitro culture. We monitored the emergence of seedlings during 23 days. We observed highly significant differences among species and treatments. O. engelmannii and O. microdasys seeds had germination percentages of 82.5% and 67.5%, respectively, by sanding then soaking in 3% hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) for 24 hours; while O. rastrera reached a cumulative germination percentage of 72.5% with sanded seeds. O. megacantha had the highest germination percentage (100%) after soaking the seeds in 3% H2O2 for 24 hours. Scarifying treatments for six days of incubation resulted in faster seed emergence in the four assessed species. The results show that the most effective methodologies for seed germination and seedling development in Opuntias are manual and chemical scarification, since scuffing the seed coat can interrupt dormancy.

Pre-germination treatments in four prickly pear cactus (Opuntia sp.) species from Northeastern Mexico