DETERMINATION OF GERMINATIVE CAPACITY OF BARLEY BY MEANS OF TETRAZOLIUM SALTS

Open Access
Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
The earlier chemical methods of estimating germinative capacity are not wholly reliable with all categories of barley; with the well-known biselenite test, for example, low results are obtained from dormant samples (see L. R. Bishop, this Journ., 1945, 215). Staining with 2,3,5-triphenyl tetrazolium chloride gives a reliable estimate of germinative capacity with mature barley, and an accurate forecast of the ultimate germinability of immature samples, but with barley which has been damaged by kilning at high temperatures, tetrazolium yields results which are significantly higher than those obtained from parallel germination tests. Although the percentage of peeled corns capable of growth is a reliable measure of viability with most categories of barley, heat-damaged samples do not immediately respond well to this type of germination test; the number of peeled corns germinating is found to be higher after a period of storage than at the tests performed immediately after the sample has been heated.

This publication has 0 references indexed in Scilit: