Germination study in Gokhru (Pedalium murex L.) seeds

Gokhru (Pedalium murex L.) is one of the important medicinal plants propagated through seeds but no germination test has been standardized for this crop yet. Germination test is mandatory for seeds sale which is required for labelling. The fruits of Pedalium murex L. are four angled indehiscent hard pyramidal with four sharp spines and it is very difficult to extract the seeds from fruits. Hence, study was conducted to find out suitable method and optimum temperature for germination test of fruits as well as seeds of gokhru. The study was conducted by using three germination testing methods viz., Top of Paper (TP), Between Paper (BP) and Sand (S) methods and three temperatures i.e. 25, 30 and one alternating temperature of 20-30℃. The results revealed that during germination test of fruits, ‘Sand’ method showed superiority by registering maximum germination (29.67%) over ‘Between Paper’ (23.33%) and ‘Top of Paper’ (3.11%) methods. Viogur index-I (213) and Vigour Index-II (2.20) were also observed maximum in ‘Sand’ method while maximum seedling length (8.00cm) and seedling dry weight (0.075mg) were observed in ‘Between Paper’ method. Among the temperatures, maximum germination (22.78 & 36.00%), seedling length (8.00 & 9.44cm), seedling dry weight (0.142 & 0.077mg), Vigour index-I (186 &341) and Vigour index-II (2.26 & 2.79) were observed at 30℃ in fruits and seeds respectively. No germination was recorded below 20℃. Good germination was observed in seeds compared to fruits. In case of seeds, maximum germination (38.33%), seedling length (9.00cm), seedling dry weight (0.076mg), vigour index-I (329) and vigour index-II (2.77) were recorded in ‘Between Paper’ method. It is concluded that 30℃ temperature is optimum for germination test of both seed as well as fruit in Gokhru and ‘Sand’ method is best for fruit germination test while in case of germination test of seeds ‘Between Paper’ method is best.