Effects of fruit maturity stages and seed extraction time on the seed quality of eggplant (Solanum melongena L.)

Eggplant (Solanum melongena L.) is a vegetable from Solanaceae family and its fruit is used in human consumption. It is produced from seedlings in the Republic of Serbia and quantity of seed used for seedlings depends on germination and 1000 seed mass, and ranges from 250 to 350 g ha-1. The aim of this paper was to determine effect of fruit maturity stages and storage duration of harvested fruit on eggplant seed quality. Seed was extracted from technologically mature, semi-mature and botanically mature fruit. Germination energy, germination and 1000 seed mass were tested after seed extraction. Part of harvested fruit was stored for 10 and 20 days, after which seed was extracted and the same seed qualities were tested. It was determined that seed from technologically mature fruit had germination around 25%. In semi-mature fruit, germination abruptly increased from 2% (seed extracted after harvest) to 88% (seed extracted 20 days after harvest). Seed obtained from botanically mature fruit had maximum germination after storing for 20 days after harvest and amounted to 99%. In all tested variants, 1000 seed mass increased with storage life, and it reached 5.48 g in botanically mature fruit.
Plavi patlidžan (Solanum melongena L.) je povrće iz familije Solanaceae čiji plodovi se koriste u ljudskoj ishrani. U Republici Srbiji se proizvodi iz rasada, a količina utrošenog semena za proizvodnju rasada zavisi od klijavosti i apsolutne mase semena i kreće se od 250-350 g za 1 ha useva. Cilj ovog rada je bio da se utvrdi uticaj faza zrelosti ploda i dužine čuvanja ubranog ploda na semenske kvalitete plavog patlidžana. Seme je vađeno iz plodova koji su dostigli tehnološku zrelost, iz poluzrelih plodova i iz botanički zrelih plodova. Nakon vađenja semena ispitana je energija klijanja, klijavost i apsolutna masa semena. Deo ubranih plodova je ostavljen da stoji 10 i 20 dana, a potom je vađeno seme i ispitani su isti semenski kvaliteti. Ustanovljeno je da seme iz plodova u tehnološkoj zrelosti imalo klijavost oko 25%. Kod semena iz poluzrelih plodova klijavost se naglo povećala sa 2% (seme vađeno nakon berbe) na 88% (seme vađeno 20 dana nakon berbe). Seme dobijeno iz botanički zrelih plodova imalo je maksimalnu klijavost stajanjem ploda 20 dana nakon berbe i iznosila je 99%. Kod svih ispitivanih varijanti stajanjem ploda apsolutna masa semena se povećavala, a iz botanički zrelih plodova dostigla je 5,48 g.