Can raw zeolite be used for post harvest pepper seed drying?

Abstract

This study was carried out to test the use of raw zeolite material in drying freshly harvested pepper seeds. Seeds of three pepper cultivars (Carliston, Kandil Dolma, and Yalova Yağlık) were harvested at maturity (65-70 days after anthesis) in two runs (run 1 and 2) in 2019 and dried at 45°C (machine-drying), in the sun (sun-dried) and with zeolite (1:1, seed, zeolite, rate) until seed moisture was reduced to lower than 10%. The time to safe drying was about 20, 40 and 60-100 hours for machine, sun and zeolite drying, respectively. Germination percentages were not significantly different between the drying methods (P<0.05) for all three cultivars. Mean germination time was not affected by drying methods in Yalova Yağlık, but was in both runs for Kandil Dolma and in the second run for Carliston. Drying methods showed insignificant differences (P>0.05) in seedling emergence for Carliston and Yalova Yağlık, but were significant (P<0.05) for Kandil Dolma in both runs. Mean seedling emergence time (d) also changed among the cultivars. Results indicated that raw zeolite has the potential to be used for safe drying of freshly harvested pepper seeds.