Seed longevity of bread wheat forms with purple and waxy grain

Abstract

Introduction: Bread wheat forms with purple grain and waxy endosperm are promising as healthy foods. In this regard, it becomes important to evaluate the longevity of their seeds to be stored in seed production industry and in genebanks. However, this issue is very little studied.

Objective: to evaluate the longevity of bread wheat seed samples with purple and waxy grain at long-term storage.

Material and methods: Seeds harvested in 2014–2017 were studied. The seed longevity was evaluated in a experiment modeling “accelerated aging” and after storage at -20ºС. The control seeds were stored at 4 °C. The antioxidant activity (AA) was determined using the DPPH• radical (Arabshahi, Urooj, 2007).

Results and discussion: There was a positive correlation between the antioxidant activity in control on the one hand and the germination energy and germinability after accelerated aging and their change indexes on the other hand (r = 0.67 - 0.76) and strong positive correlations between the ntioxidant activity (r = 0.82) and its change indexes (r = 0.78) after accelerated ageing and freezing. The correlation coefficients between the germination energy and degrees of their changes in the both regimens were significant: from 0.63 to 0.79. Based on the response to accelerated aging, seeds of waxy wheat accession PI619376 were found to be the most longevous; purple-seed variety Chornobrova, red-grain variety Bunchuk and waxy lines PI619377 and PI619381 were the least longevous.

Conclusions. There was no clear relationship between the bread wheat seed longevity with the purple pigmentation of grain or with high amylopectin content in starch. It is highlighted a possibility to predict the longevity of bread wheat seeds from antioxidant activity levels. The bread wheat seeds are similarly responsive to such diverse stressors as accelerated aging and freezing.