Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-4rdpn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-13T02:51:45.777Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Theoretical basis of protocols for seed storage II. The influence of temperature on optimal moisture levels

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 September 2008

Christina W. Vertucci  and
Eric E. Roos
Christina W. Vertucci*
Affiliation:
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, National Seed Storage Laboratory, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA
Eric E. Roos
Affiliation:
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, National Seed Storage Laboratory, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA
*
* Correspondence
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The premise of this paper is that the chemical potential of water strongly influences aging reactions in seeds, and that there will be an optimal chemical potential of water for seed longevity. If this is true, the optimum moisture content for storage and the optimal drying protocols should vary with the storage temperature, but should be predictable from water sorption isotherms. Isotherms for pea, soybean and peanut are given for temperatures between 65° and −150°C. Relative humidity/moisture content relationships were determined directly for temperatures between 5° and 50°C using saturated salt solutions. At extreme temperatures, isotherms were calculated from heat capacity measurements using differential scanning calorimetry or extrapolations of van't Hoff analyses. The family of isotherms was used to predict optimum moisture contents at storage temperatures between 65°C and −150°C. The optimal moisture contents for these three species are consistently shown to increase as the storage temperature is lowered.

Keywords

seed storageseed agingultradrymoisture contenttemperaturemoisture isothermsheat capacitydifferential scanning calorimetryrelative humiditydesiccation damagebound waterintermediate storage behaviourcryopreservation
Type
Research Papers
Information
Seed Science Research , Volume 3 , Issue 3 , September 1993 , pp. 201 - 213
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1993

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Atkins, P.W. (1982) Physical chemistry. San Francisco, W.H. Freeman.Google Scholar
Bruni, F. and Leopold, A.C. (1992) Glass transitions in soybean seed: relevance to anhydrous biology. Plant Physiology 96, 660–663.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carpenter, W.J. and Boucher, J.F. (1992) Temperature requirements for the storage and germination of Delphinum × cultorum seed. HortScience 27, 989–992.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carpenter, W.J. and Ostmark, E.R. (1988) Moisture content, freezing and storage conditions influence germination of Amaryllis seed. HortScience 23, 1072–1074.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cheng, H., Zheng, G. and Tao, K.L. (1990) Effects of ultradrying on ageing, cell ultrastructure and vigour of Chinese cabbage seed. FAO/IBPGR Plant Genetic Resources Newsletter 83/84, 9–14.Google Scholar
Cromarty, A.S., Ellis, R.H. and Roberts, E.H. (1985) The design of seed storage facilities for genetic conservation. Rome, International Bureau for Plant Genetic Resources.Google Scholar
Crowe, J.H. and Crowe, L.M. (1986) Stabilization of membranes in anhydrotic organisms. pp 188–209in Leopold, A.C.(Ed.) Membranes, metabolism, and dry organisms. Ithaca, New York, Cornell University Press.Google Scholar
Crowe, J.H., Crowe, L.M., Hoekstra, F.A. and Wistrom, C.A. (1989) Effects of water on the stability of phospholipid bilayers: the problem of imbibition damage in dry organisms. pp 51–67in Stanwood, P.C. and McDonald, M.B. (Eds) Seed moisture. (Crop Science Society America Special Publication No. 14.) Madison, Wisconsin, Crop Science Society of America.Google Scholar
Ellis, R.H. and Roberts, E.H. (1980) Improved equations for the prediction of seed longevity. Annals of Botany 45, 13–30.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ellis, R.H., Hong, T.D. and Roberts, E.H. (1989) A comparison of the low-moisture-content limit to the logarithmic relation between seed moisture and longevity in twelve species. Annals of Botany 63, 601–611.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ellis, R.H., Hong, T.D., Roberts, E.H. and Tao, K.L. (1990) Low-moisture-content limits to relations between seed longevity and moisture. Annals of Botany 65, 493–504.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ellis, R.H., Hong, T.D. and Roberts, E.H. (1991a) Seed moisture content, storage, viability and vigour (Correspondence). Seed Science Research 1, 275–279.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ellis, R.H., Hong, T.D. and Roberts, E.H. (1991b) An intermediate category of seed storage behaviour? Journal of Experimental Botany 42, 653–657.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ellis, R.H., Hong, T.D. and Roberts, E.H. (1991c) Effect of storage temperature and moisture on the germination of papaya seeds. Seed Science Research 1, 69–72.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ellis, R.H., Hong, T.D., Roberts, E.H and Soetisna, U. (1991d) Seed storage behaviour in Elaeis guineensis. Seed Science Research 1, 99–104.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
FAO/IBPGR (1992) Report of the expert consultation on genebank standards. Rome, International Board for Plant Genetic Resources.Google Scholar
Ginnings, D.C. and Furukawa, G.T. (1953) Heat capacity standards for the range 14 to 1200K. Journal of the American Chemical Society 75, 522–527.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harrington, J.F. (1973) Biochemical basis of seed longevity. Seed Science & Technology 1, 453–461.Google Scholar
Hong, T.D. and Ellis, R.H. (1992) The survival of germinating orthodox seeds after dessication and hermetic storage. Journal of Experimental Botany 43, 239–247.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
IBPGR (1992) Ultradry seed storage. p. 40in Annual Report 1991. Rome, International Board for Plant Genetic Resources.Google Scholar
Karel, M. (1975) Physical-chemical modification of the state of water in foods—a speculative survey. pp 639–656in Duckworth, R.B. (Ed.) Water Relations in Foods. New York, Academic Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Labuza, T.P. (1980) The effect of water activity on reactions kinetics of food deterioration. Food Technology 34, 36–59.Google Scholar
Leopold, A.C. and Vertucci, C.W. (1989) Moisture as a regulator of physiological reaction in seeds. pp 51–68in Stanwood, P.C. and McDonald, M.B. (Eds) Seed moisture. (Crop Science Society of America Special Publication No.14.) Madison, Wisconsin, Crop Science Society of America.Google Scholar
Luscher-Mattli, M. and Ruegg, M. (1982) Thermodynamic functions of biopolymer hydration I. Their determination by vapor pressure studies, discussed in an analysis of the primary hydration process. Biopolymers 21, 403–418.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moore, F.D. and Roos, E.E. (1982) Determining differences in viability loss rates during seed storage. Seed Science & Technology 10, 283–300.Google Scholar
Nakamura, S. (1975) The most appropriate moisture content of seeds for their long life span. Seed Science & Technology 3, 747–759.Google Scholar
Nishiyama, I. (1977) Decrease in germination activity of rice seeds due to excessive desiccation in storage. Japanese Journal Crop Science 46, 111–118.Google Scholar
Normah, M.N., Chin, H.F. and Hor, Y.L. (1986) Desiccation and cryopreservation of embryonic axes of Hevea brasiliensis. Pertanika 9, 299–303.Google Scholar
Nutile, G.E. (1964) Effect of desiccation on viability of seeds. Crop Science 4, 325–328.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pence, V.C. (1992) Desiccation and the survival of Aesculus, Castanea, and Quercus embryo axes through cryopreservation. Cryobiology 29, 391–399.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Priestley, D.A. (1986) Seed aging. Ithaca, New York, Comstock Publishing Associates, Cornell University Press.Google Scholar
Rockland, L.B. (1960) Saturated salt solutions for static control of relative humidity between 5C and 40C. Analytical Chemistry 32, 1375–1376.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rockland, L.B. (1969) Water activity and storage stability. Food Technology 23, 1241–1251.Google Scholar
Roos, E.E. and Davidson, D.A. (1992) Record longevities of vegetable seeds in storage. HortScience 27, 393–396.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schneider, M.J. and Schneider, A.S. (1972) Water in biological membranes: adsorption isotherms and circular dichroism as a function of hydration. Journal of Membrane Biology 9, 127–140.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Smith, R.D. (1992) Seed storage temperature and relative humidity (Correspondence). Seed Science Research 2, 113–116.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stanwood, P.C. (1987) Survival of sesame seeds at the temperature of liquid nitrogen. Crop Science 27, 327–331.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tanford, C. (1973) The hydrophobic effect: formation of micelles and biological membranes. New York, John Wiley & Sonsm.Google Scholar
Tompsett, P.B. (1984) The effect of moisture content and temperature on the seed storage life of Araucaria columnaris. Seed Science & Technology 12,801–816.Google Scholar
Vertucci, C.W. (1989) Effects of cooling rate on seeds exposed to liquid nitrogen temperatures. Plant Physiology 90, 1478–1485.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Vertucci, C.W. (1990) Calorimetric studies of the state of water in seed tissues. Biophysical Journal 58, 1463–1471.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Vertucci, C.W. (1992a) A calorimetric study of the changes in lipids during seed storage under dry conditions. Plant Physiology 99, 310–316.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Vertucci, C.W. (1992b) Towards a unified hypothesis of seed aging. Proceedings of the IVth International Workshop on Seeds (in press).Google Scholar
Vertucci, C.W. and Leopold, A.C. (1987a) Water binding in legume seeds. Plant Physiology 85, 224–231.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Vertucci, C.W. and Leopold, A.C. (1987b) The relationship between water binding and desiccation in tissues. Plant Physiology 85, 232–238.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Vertucci, C.W. and Roos, E.E. (1990) Theoretical basis of protocols for seed storage. Plant Physiology 94, 1019–1023.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Vertucci, C.W. and Roos, E.E. (1991) Seed moisture content, storage, viability and vigour (Correspondence). Seed Science Research 1, 277–279.Google Scholar
Vertucci, C.W., Berjak, P., Pammenter, N.W. and Crane, J. (1991) Cryopreservation of embryonic axes of an homeohydrous (recalcitrant) seed in relation to the calorimetric properties of tissue water. Cryoletters 12, 339–350.Google Scholar
Wakabayashi, T. and Franks, F. (1986) Heat capacities of aqueous polyvinylpyrrolidone solutions at subzero temperatures. Cryoletters 7, 361–366.Google Scholar
Wesley-Smith, J., Vertucci, C.W., Berjak, P., Pammenter, N.W. and Crane, J. (1992) Cryopreservation of dessication-sensitive axes of Camellia sinensis in relation to dehydration, freezing rate and the thermal properties of tissue water Journal of Plant Physiology 140, 596–604.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Williams, R.J. and Leopold, A.C. (1989) The glassy state in corn embryos. Plant Physiology 89, 977–981.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Winston, P.W. and Bates, D.H. (1960) Saturated solutions for the control of humidity in biological research. Ecology 41, 232–236.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zewdie, M. and Ellis, R.H. (1991) Survival of tef and niger seeds following exposure to subzero temperatures at various moisture contents. Seed Science & Technology 19, 309–317.Google Scholar