811

Karnataka J.Agric.Sci.,18 (3):(811-813) 2005

Chilli, a spice crop grown as sole crop

as well as inter crop throughout the Karnataka

and India. Proper crop stand establishment and

efficient productivity, seed germination and

seedling vigour are the basic requirement. The

difficulty in obtaining (Mehata and

Ramakrishnana, 1988; Schultheis and Cantuliffe,

1988) proper emergence in chilli crop under field

conditions has been reported. Fruit maturity at

the time of seed extraction is an important factor

that affects chilli seed germination and quality.

Cavero et al. (1995) observed that seeds from

fully ripe fruits had greater germination rates than

those obtained from half ripe or orange coloured

fruits. Post harvest ripening could be interesting

in augmenting seed quality when fruits were not

harvested at fully ripe stage (Quagliotti et al.,

1981).

Therefore, the present study was under

taken to know the effect of fruit maturity on seed

quality in chilli cv. Byadgi dabbi and also to know

improvement by post harvest ripening of the fruits

picked at different stages.

The experiment was conducted at ARS,

Hanumanamtti, Karnataka during kharif 1999.

Fruits (about 20kg) were picked for each ripening

stage (turning to red, half red and fully red-Ripe).

Fruits from each maturity stage were divided into

two lots. In one lot the seed from the fruits were

immediately extracted. Fruits in the second lot

were allowed to ripe at ambient temperature (15

days after picking). The control (over-ripe)

consisted for seeds from fruits picked at fully ripe

(red) consisted of seeds from fruits picked at fully

ripe (red) stage and allowed to over ripe of a month.

Seeds from the fruits were extracted by

manually and were dried in shade followed by

mechanical drying (250C, 35% RH) and then

Influence of Fruit Maturity and Post Harvest Ripening on

Seed Quality of Chilli

stored in moisture impervious enveloped in a low

temperature storage chamber (150C, 30 % RH)

until germination was evaluated.

The germination was studied as per

recommended methods (Anon., 1996) in two

temperature (13 0C and 250C) using

environmentally controlled cabinet. Seeds treated

with captan @ 2g kg were placed in petridishes

over two sheets of filter paper moistened with

distilled water. Germinated seeds were counted

daily and final counting was taken after 14 days.

Four replications of 100 seeds each were used

for each treatment field emergence were recorded

in the field by sowing seeds on the raised beds

as per standard procedure. Seedling fresh weight

dry weight root length and shoot length were

recorded for 10 seedlings per replicate at 25 0C.

Vigour index was computed following the method

suggested by Abdul-Baki and Anderson (1973)

as vigour index I= (Seedling shoot+ root length in

cm) x per centage of germination and vigour index

II= seedling dry wt. x percentage of germination.

The seeds from full red -ripe showed

higher germination than those extracted from

turning to red and half red fruits (Table 1). Cavero

et al. (1995) concluded that seeds from half-ripe

fruits had a poor germination than those from fully

ripe fruits.

Seeds taken from turning to red and half-

red stage showed lower field emergence, seedling

fresh weight and vigour index than those fully red

ripe fruits. Krishnamurthy (1995) reported higher

laboratory germination, field emergence, shoot

length, root length and vigour index when chilli

fruits were harvested after obtaining 100% red

color than those harvested earlier. Seed quality

in capsicum depended on the extent of fruit

maturity and reddening of fruit (Lysenko and

812

Butkevich, 1980). In general, the laboratory

germination improved by 6% at 13 0C as compared

to 25 0C and related more closely to the per cent

field emergence.

The ripening process of the fruits picked

at half red stage improved seed germination by

30% at 130C. This improvement in germination is

in agreement with the result of Quagliotti et al.

(1981). The seedling fresh weight and vigour index

were also improved with post harvest ripening of

half-red fruits in chilli cv. Byadgi dabbi field

emerence of seeds extracted from half red fruits

can be improved by 22% with 15 days post harvest

ripening. There fore, it could be concluded that

the germination, vigour and field emergence of

seeds from fruits that are picked at half red stage

improves only if the post harvest ripening of seed

occurs within the berry. Sanchez et al. (1993)

indicated that when seeds were allowed to remain

within fruits for 14 days post harvest maturation,

the germination percentage were significantly

increased. Under tropical condition, chilli seed

extracted from fruits picked at full red ripe stage

and allowed 15 days post harvest ripening had

better germination (both in 130C and 25 0C), field

emergence and seedling vigour than over ripe

control. In case by error, if fruits are picked at

half red stage, a 15 day post harvest ripening

within the berry is required for improving seed

germination and quality.

Table 1. Effect of different stages of fruit maturity and post harvest ripening on chilli seed germination,

field emergence and vigour

Treatments Germination % Field Seedling Vigour Vigour

13 0C 250C emergence fresh (mg) Index I Index II

Maturity stages

Turning to red 17e 13d 20.00c 19.8d 92.1c 20.6e

Half red 64c 48b 61.5b 21.5c 262.1b 63.9d

Full red ripe 94ab 96a 84.0a 22.5bc 622.7a 166.2c

Post harvest ripening

Turning to red 31d 26c 22.0c 21.1cd 135.8c 45.2e

Half red 94ba 92a 83.5a 25.2a 584.4a 227.9ab

Full red ripe 97a 97a 84.0a 23.8ab 615.7a 240.0a

Over ripe (control) 90b 92a 82.5a 21.8c 567.5a 198.2bc

L.S.D (p= 0.05) 5.6 6.1 5.2 1.5 52.8 39.7

Means followed by the same letters are not significantly different

Separation by Duncan's multiple range test, 5% level.

Karnataka Journal of Agricultural Sciences: 18 (3), 2005

813

Agricultural Research Station R.B. JOLLI

Hanumanamatti - 581 135 S.D. EKBOTE

(Received : January, 2004)

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Influence of Fruit Maturity .. .. . . . . . .. . .