Pumpkin Seeds Germination and Seedling Growth under Abiotic Stress

Abstract

An increase in heavy metals (HMs) pollution due to agricultural and industrial activities has become a serious environmental problem. Heavy metal poisoning and its accumulation in food chains are one of the major environmental and health problems of modern societies. Heavy metal poisoning and its accumulation in food chains are major environmental and health risks. Among these metals, lead and cadmium are the metals with the most concern due to their toxicity potential for animals and plants even for humans. The effect of seed aging on the germination and growth of Cucurbita pepo L. seedlings has been evaluated in an experiment with a completely random design where seeds were exposed to deterioration at 45°C and 95% humidity for 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, and 20 days. The measured characteristics included germination percentage and speed, germination uniformity, and days to reach 10 and 50% of germination. Changes in seed viability were evaluated by using the tetrazolium test. The results of the analysis of variance showed that aging had a significant effect on all studied characteristics at the level of 1%. It was also observed that during aging, the amount of color accepted by the seed tissue is decreasing, which indicated a decrease in the vigor and viability of seeds.