Abstract
This encyclopedia provides comprehensive coverage of seeds in a single volume. It includes information on all the major scientific themes and facets of the subject of seeds, written by 110 authors. It outlines the latest fundamental biological knowledge about seeds, together with the principles of agricultural seed processing, storage and sowing, the food and industrial uses of seeds, and the roles of seeds in history, economies and cultures. Subjects covered include anatomy, structure, composition; the molecular biology, biochemistry, physiology, pathology and ecology of development, maturation and germination, dormancy, storage and deterioration; the modelling of germination and seedling emergence; genetic modification; preservation in gene banks; production and processing for crop cultivation; seed testing and treatment; and seeds as sources of food, food additives and beverages, poisons, pharmacological and psychoactive substances, and fibres and other manufactured products. The book contains 560 full articles, illustrated with tables, figures, black-and-white and colour photographs, suggested further reading matter and 670 supplementary definitions. There is a subject index, and a separate index of plant species.