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Assessment of seed biology of the Himalayan medicinal herb Phytolacca acinosa Roxb., the Indian pokeweed, from the perspective of longevity, conservation and propagation

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Abstract

Phytolacca acinosa Roxb., the Indian pokeweed, is a multipurpose herb that serves as a source of medicine, food and pigments, and possesses strong phytoremediation potential. Here, we report the storage (30-month) dependent changes in the status of seed viability, dormancy and germination of P. acinosa from W. Himalaya with an emphasis on seed longevity. The freshly harvested seeds exhibited 100% viability but were dormant as evident from lack of germination in control. The acid scarification and pre-treatment of seeds with GA3 and sodium nitroprusside (SNP; a nitric oxide donor) led to 50, 27 and 20% germination, respectively. During a 30-month ambient storage of seeds, the seed germination increased till 12 months and gradually declined thereafter. The decline was essentially paralleled by reduced viability, decrease in the triphenyl tetrazolium chloride reduction ability of seed tissue (a measure of dehydrogenase activity) and amylase activity. The seed pretreatment dependent changes in amylase activity and increased levels of malondialdehyde (MDA, a measure of lipid peroxidation) and proline during storage signify the role of reserve hydrolysis and oxidative stress in seed germination and viability. A complete seed viability loss occurred after 30 months of storage. The seed longevity (time taken for a 50% decline in seed viability) of P. acinosa, stored under ambient conditions was found to be more than 24 months that appears reasonably high for successful seed-based propagation and conservation of the species.

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Acknowledgements

Financial assistance as JRF and SRF to Ram Krishan by Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), New Delhi (3/1/3/JRF-2014/HRD-078/10023) is thankfully acknowledged.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biosciences, Himachal Pradesh University, Shimla, 171005, India

    Ram Krishan & Shanti S. Sharma

  2. Department of Botany, Deshbandhu College, University of Delhi, Delhi, 110019, India

    Rajender Kumar Sharma

  3. Department of Botany, School of Life Sciences, Sikkim University, Gangtok, 737102, India

    Shanti S. Sharma

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  1. Ram Krishan
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SSS designed the study. RK collected the seeds and performed the experiments. All authors contributed to data analysis and manuscript writing.

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Correspondence to Shanti S. Sharma.

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Krishan, R., Sharma, R.K. & Sharma, S.S. Assessment of seed biology of the Himalayan medicinal herb Phytolacca acinosa Roxb., the Indian pokeweed, from the perspective of longevity, conservation and propagation. Nucleus 65, 331–339 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13237-022-00404-4

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