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Physiological studies on seed ageing in bitter gourd (Momordica charantia L.) cv. Punjab 14
(Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, 2017) Bansal, Megha; Bedi, Seema
Bitter gourd (Momordica charantia L.) cv. Punjab 14 seeds harvested in mid-June were subjected to three post-harvest storage procedures, viz., fresh seeds (5°C; 30% RH) for 8 months (stored in refrigerator), stored seeds (kept at room temperature) for 8 months and accelerated aged seeds. Fresh seeds stored in refrigerator were subjected to accelerated ageing (45°C; 90% RH) for 3, 6 and 9 days respectively. Our results showed that increasing ageing duration resulted in reduction in germination percentage and seedling vigour index. All the ageing treatments resulted in membrane damage, as is evident from higher solute leakage in aged seeds. Besides physiological changes, biochemical changes due to ageing included a reduction in content of total soluble proteins whereas, the total soluble sugars and total free amino acids increased with accelerated ageing. There was a decrease in the activities of antioxidant related enzyme, viz., catalase and peroxidase. Exceptionally, α-amylase activity increased with accelerated ageing. The amount of ascorbic acid, α-tocopherol and DNA also reduced with accelerated ageing. Protein profile (SDS-PAGE) of aged seeds showed alteration in banding pattern when compared to that of fresh seeds.