Effect of Fruit Ripening Stage and Drying Method On Seed Germination of Eggplant (Solanum melongena).

This study was conducted to investigate the effect of fruit ripening stage and drying method at harvest on seed germination of eggplant (Solanum melongena). Fruits of eggplants were harvested at two maturity stages: 1) Mosaic black (MB) stage; 2) Yellow stage (Y). The seeds were air-dried in two methods: 1) Seeds were extracted from the fruit by hands and left drying at room temperature; 2) The seeds were left to air-dry in fruit cut in half. Seed moisture content was measured during the drying period. The air-dried seeds were subjected to two treatments: 1) Untreated seeds (Control); 2) Seeds were soaked in a solution of benomyl (1 g per 100 ml), sterilized using ethanol for 30 seconds, soaked in a 3.5% sodium hypochlorite for 5 min, then soaked 3 times in distilled water for 15 min each (Treated). Seeds germination was conducted for the harvested seeds. The seeds dried in the fruit had a slower seed moisture loss than the seeds extracted from fruits and dried at ambient conditions. The seeds extracted from fruits had a higher germination than the seeds dried in fruit when seeds were untreated. The fruit ripening stage had no significant effect on seed germination. The germination of the treated seeds was significantly higher than the untreated seeds. In conclusion, seed treatment enhanced the germination of eggplant seeds harvested at both stages. The extraction of the seeds from the fruits before drying was the best drying method to improve seed germination of eggplant.