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Key words; Dormancy, Tamarind, Scientific name; Tamarindus indica, Hausa name; Tsamiya, Fulfulde name; Jabbe, Family; Leguminosae
ABSTRACT: The study was carried out to investigate the effects of sulphuric acid and hot water treatments on the germination of Tamarind (Tamarindus indica). Seeds were sown in poly pots under normal environmental condition for germination. Thirty (30) seeds of T. indica (one seed per pot) with ten replicates each were used. The highest germination percentage was recorded in seeds treated with fifty (50%) percent sulphuric acid concentration within sixty (60) minutes soaking period. Germination was observed to be enhanced by the effect of sulphuric acid on disrupting the seed coats of Tamarind (Jabbe), followed by hot water. Results of this research may serve as useful information in the production and improvement of the tree species, as knowledge on seed germination requirements is a critical factor in seedlings production.© JASEM
Seed dormancy could be considered simply as a block to the completion of germination of an intact viable seed under favourable condition. (FinchSavage and Leubner-Metzger, 2006)
A dormant seed does not have the capacity to germinate in a specified period of time under any combination of normal physical environmental factors that are otherwise favourable for its germination, i.e., after the seed become non-dormant (Baskin and Baskin, 2004). A completely non-dormant seed has the capacity to germinate over the widest range of normal physical environmental factors possible for the genotype
A diverse range of dormancy mechanisms (blocks) has evolved in keeping within the diversity of climates and habitats in which they operate. The five classes of dormancy are: physiological, morphological, morpho-physiological, physical and combinational dormancy.
Tamarind is native to tropical Africa, the tree grows wild throughout the Sudan and was long ago introduced into and adopted to India that it has often been reported as indigenous there also, and it was apparently from this Asiatic country that it reached the Persians and the Arabs who called it "tamar hincli" (Indian date, from the date-like appearance of the dried pulp), giving rise to both its common and generic names. Unfortunately, the specific name "indica", also perpetuates the illusion of Indian origin. The fruit was well known to the ancient Egyptians and the Greeks in the 4th century BC.
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