Germination and Vigor of Maize Seeds: Pilot-Scale Comparison of Low-Oxygen and Traditional Storage Methods
Seed quality declines during storage depending on relative humidity, temperature, and oxygen concentration. Low-oxygen atmospheres significantly enhanced the germination and vigor of seeds during storage in laboratory-scale experiments. Low-oxygen atmospheres include self-modified atmospheres, where...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Artículo |
| Language: | Inglés |
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Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute, MDPI
2024
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12123/19333 https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/14/8/1268 https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture14081268 |
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| author | Abadia, María Bernadette Castillo, Luciana Alonso, Yanela Monterubbianesi, María Gloria Maciel, Gisele Bartosik, Ricardo Enrique |
| author_browse | Abadia, María Bernadette Alonso, Yanela Bartosik, Ricardo Enrique Castillo, Luciana Maciel, Gisele Monterubbianesi, María Gloria |
| author_facet | Abadia, María Bernadette Castillo, Luciana Alonso, Yanela Monterubbianesi, María Gloria Maciel, Gisele Bartosik, Ricardo Enrique |
| author_sort | Abadia, María Bernadette |
| collection | INTA Digital |
| description | Seed quality declines during storage depending on relative humidity, temperature, and oxygen concentration. Low-oxygen atmospheres significantly enhanced the germination and vigor of seeds during storage in laboratory-scale experiments. Low-oxygen atmospheres include self-modified atmospheres, where gas composition changes due to microbial respiration and oxidative processes, as well as modified atmospheres, where gas composition is initially altered from an external source without further adjustments. However, the potential of low-oxygen atmospheres to preserve the quality of maize (Zea mays) seeds in bags of 25–50 kg capacity, like those employed by seed companies and small-scale farmers, remains underexplored, hindering a broader adoption of this storage technology. Our study assessed the feasibility of applying low-oxygen atmospheres for seed storage on the pilot scale, i.e., hermetic containers of 25 kg capacity made of polyethylene and polyamide, under controlled conditions. We first evaluated the ability of the hermetic containers to maintain low oxygen levels over time. Then, we compared the germination and vigor of seeds stored in the hermetic containers under modified and self-modified atmospheres with those stored in traditional poly-paper bags under normal atmospheric conditions. The seeds had 14% moisture content (wet basis) and were stored at 25 °C and 10 °C. Maintaining low oxygen levels in polyethylene–polyamide bags was feasible. Moreover, at 25 °C, modified and self-modified atmospheres maintained higher germination values (95.8% and 94.4%, respectively) compared to traditional storage (68.3%), and both were as effective as refrigeration (97.6%). However, refrigeration was better for preserving seed vigor, with radicle emergence values of 85.2% in self-modified atmospheres and 78.9% in modified atmospheres, compared to 65.0% and 61.2%, respectively, at 25 °C. In conclusion, the advantages of modified atmospheres observed in laboratory-scale studies are achievable on a larger scale with a proper container design, advancing the prospects for the practical application of this technology for the seed industry and small farmers. |
| format | Artículo |
| id | INTA19333 |
| institution | Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA -Argentina) |
| language | Inglés |
| publishDate | 2024 |
| publishDateRange | 2024 |
| publishDateSort | 2024 |
| publisher | Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute, MDPI |
| publisherStr | Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute, MDPI |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | INTA193332024-09-11T10:12:43Z Germination and Vigor of Maize Seeds: Pilot-Scale Comparison of Low-Oxygen and Traditional Storage Methods Abadia, María Bernadette Castillo, Luciana Alonso, Yanela Monterubbianesi, María Gloria Maciel, Gisele Bartosik, Ricardo Enrique Zea Mays Maiz Almacenamiento Atmósfera Controlada Refrigeración Calidad de la Semilla Almacenamiento Maize Controlled Atmosphere Storage Refrigeration Seed Quality Storage Seed quality declines during storage depending on relative humidity, temperature, and oxygen concentration. Low-oxygen atmospheres significantly enhanced the germination and vigor of seeds during storage in laboratory-scale experiments. Low-oxygen atmospheres include self-modified atmospheres, where gas composition changes due to microbial respiration and oxidative processes, as well as modified atmospheres, where gas composition is initially altered from an external source without further adjustments. However, the potential of low-oxygen atmospheres to preserve the quality of maize (Zea mays) seeds in bags of 25–50 kg capacity, like those employed by seed companies and small-scale farmers, remains underexplored, hindering a broader adoption of this storage technology. Our study assessed the feasibility of applying low-oxygen atmospheres for seed storage on the pilot scale, i.e., hermetic containers of 25 kg capacity made of polyethylene and polyamide, under controlled conditions. We first evaluated the ability of the hermetic containers to maintain low oxygen levels over time. Then, we compared the germination and vigor of seeds stored in the hermetic containers under modified and self-modified atmospheres with those stored in traditional poly-paper bags under normal atmospheric conditions. The seeds had 14% moisture content (wet basis) and were stored at 25 °C and 10 °C. Maintaining low oxygen levels in polyethylene–polyamide bags was feasible. Moreover, at 25 °C, modified and self-modified atmospheres maintained higher germination values (95.8% and 94.4%, respectively) compared to traditional storage (68.3%), and both were as effective as refrigeration (97.6%). However, refrigeration was better for preserving seed vigor, with radicle emergence values of 85.2% in self-modified atmospheres and 78.9% in modified atmospheres, compared to 65.0% and 61.2%, respectively, at 25 °C. In conclusion, the advantages of modified atmospheres observed in laboratory-scale studies are achievable on a larger scale with a proper container design, advancing the prospects for the practical application of this technology for the seed industry and small farmers. EEA Balcarce Fil: Abadía, María Bernadette. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Balcarce. Instituto de Innovación para la Producción Agropecuaria y el Desarrollo Sostenible; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Innovación para la Producción Agropecuaria y el Desarrollo Sostenible; Argentina Fil: Castillo, Luciana. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Departamento de Ingeniería Química; Argentina Fil: Alonso, Yanela. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Departamento de Ingeniería Química; Argentina Fil: Monterubbianesi, María Gloria. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias; Argentina Fil: Maciel, Gisele. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Balcarce. Instituto de Innovación para la Producción Agropecuaria y el Desarrollo Sostenible; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Innovación para la Producción Agropecuaria y el Desarrollo Sostenible; Argentina Fil: Bartosik, Ricardo Enrique. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Balcarce. Instituto de Innovación para la Producción Agropecuaria y el Desarrollo Sostenible; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Innovación para la Producción Agropecuaria y el Desarrollo Sostenible; Argentina 2024-09-11T10:06:10Z 2024-09-11T10:06:10Z 2024-08 info:ar-repo/semantics/artículo info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12123/19333 https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/14/8/1268 2077-0472 https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture14081268 eng info:eu-repograntAgreement/INTA/2023-PE-L04-I119, Abordaje de la calidad y procesos de agregado de valor de productos en sistemas agrobioindustriales sostenibles info:eu-repograntAgreement/INTA/2023-PD-L06-I080, AgTech: soluciones tecnológicas para los procesos productivos del agro 4.0 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/ Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) application/pdf Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute, MDPI Agriculture 14 (8) : 1268. (August 2024) |
| spellingShingle | Zea Mays Maiz Almacenamiento Atmósfera Controlada Refrigeración Calidad de la Semilla Almacenamiento Maize Controlled Atmosphere Storage Refrigeration Seed Quality Storage Abadia, María Bernadette Castillo, Luciana Alonso, Yanela Monterubbianesi, María Gloria Maciel, Gisele Bartosik, Ricardo Enrique Germination and Vigor of Maize Seeds: Pilot-Scale Comparison of Low-Oxygen and Traditional Storage Methods |
| title | Germination and Vigor of Maize Seeds: Pilot-Scale Comparison of Low-Oxygen and Traditional Storage Methods |
| title_full | Germination and Vigor of Maize Seeds: Pilot-Scale Comparison of Low-Oxygen and Traditional Storage Methods |
| title_fullStr | Germination and Vigor of Maize Seeds: Pilot-Scale Comparison of Low-Oxygen and Traditional Storage Methods |
| title_full_unstemmed | Germination and Vigor of Maize Seeds: Pilot-Scale Comparison of Low-Oxygen and Traditional Storage Methods |
| title_short | Germination and Vigor of Maize Seeds: Pilot-Scale Comparison of Low-Oxygen and Traditional Storage Methods |
| title_sort | germination and vigor of maize seeds pilot scale comparison of low oxygen and traditional storage methods |
| topic | Zea Mays Maiz Almacenamiento Atmósfera Controlada Refrigeración Calidad de la Semilla Almacenamiento Maize Controlled Atmosphere Storage Refrigeration Seed Quality Storage |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12123/19333 https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/14/8/1268 https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture14081268 |
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