Seed germination dynamics of Gymnema sylvestre as influenced by sowing media and storage period.

Abstract

Most medicinal plant species have become rare due to over exploitation from natural habitats. In general, a little emphasis has been placed on production of planting material for commercial cultivation of medicinal plant species. Gymnema sylvestre is one of the important medicinal plant species, which is rare in nature due to poor seed germination. Therefore, the current study was undertaken to assess the seed propagation of G. sylvestre. Uniform, viable seeds were placed in Petri dishes filled with different media (i.e. sand, coir dust, top soil and 1:1:1 mixture of sand, top soil and 1:1:1 mixture of sand, top soil and coir dust) to study the effect of media on germination. A petri dish with a moist filter paper was used as a control. Seeds were stored in an open container at room temperature (30C◦) and germination was tested at 15-day intervals. The highest germination (92%) was recorded in coir dust, followed by control (68%). Availability of enough moisture explained the higher germination recorded from coir dust media. There was no significant (P≤0.05) reduction in germination within first 2 months of storage. It can be concluded that, coir dust would be the best media for seed germination of G. sylvestre and seeds should not be stored more than two months to ensure higher germination.