1. Is there a difference between a dormant seed, for example, of Scots pine, a fossilized dead seed, and an active live one by spectrometric or other characteristics? 2. Is it possible to determine this by a non-destructive method? After all, in this case, it would be advisable to select dormant seeds before storing them, or perhaps put them into hibernation. 3. Is there a clear gradation in any measurable parameters between dormant or viable seeds, and where is the line between these properties?
Hello Arthur; In Pinyon Pines, Pinus monophyla, P. edulis, P. quadrifolia and probably others, the viable seeds sink in water and the non-viable ones float. I regularly use that trait to sort seeds for planting or for the table. Best regards, Jim Des Lauriers
Dear Arthur,
First of all, congratulations on your automatized grader. Definitely, I am interested in this topic and I will follow this question.
As James already wrote, seed flotation might be a swift method and more important a non-destructive one. But it lacks precision. You can test your results for example by using TZ (Tetrazolium Chloride), the usual chemical test for seed viability. By reduction processes, formazan is formed in the living tissue. But this method is not a non-destruction one, so you can use this test just for control, to test the efficacity of other determination.
On the other hand, in recent years spectrometric analyses it is becoming more common. And I am sure we can find some different responses for living viable seeds. I am also interested in this matter. There are no straightforward or resounding results yet, but I can recommend you some promising articles on this topic:
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/319070687_A_functional_imaging_study_of_germinating_oilseed_rape_seed
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/231860859_Characterization_of_germinating_and_non-viable_soybean_seeds_by_nuclear_magnetic_resonance_NMR_spectroscopy
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/8420018_Magnetic_Resonance_Imaging_of_Seeds_by_Use_of_Single_Point_Acquisition
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0300908416301468
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1365-313X.2012.04927.x
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