Comparison of Stratification, Sulfuric Acid, Scarification, Potassium Nitrate and Hydro-priming Treatments on Germination Characteristics and Alpha Amylase Activity Myrtus communis L. Seed

Myrtus is a tree that has been widely used in land space in recent decades, as well as this medicinal property. The seed of this plant has dormancy and its dormancy should be broken by various treatments to provide germination. In order to investigate seed dormancy breaking treatments, the study was conducted in a complete randomized design with 4 replications in 2015 in the Horticulture Physiology Laboratory of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resource University of Khuzestan. Treatments included: control, scarification with sandpaper for 2 minutes, soaking in water 4, 25, 50°C by 30, 60 and 90 minutes, application of potassium nitrate in concentration 100, 500, 1000 ppm with immersion time for 24 hours, use 50% sulfuric acid for 5, 10, 20, 40 minutes and then wash 3 times with distilled water, stratification at 4 °C with times of 10, 20, 40 days. The results of comparing the means showed that by applying 50% sulfuric acid treatment for 20 minutes, the highest germination rate was 64.25% and the highest germination rate was 12.8 units per day and the highest seed vigor (22.29 units). Was obtained. After this treatment, sanding was almost in the second place. The results also showed that some treatments such as 50% sulfuric acid for 40 minutes, potassium nitrate at a concentration of 1000 ppm and soaking in water at 50 °C for 90 minutes caused seed damage and reduced germination indices. In general, it was found that the main obstacle to seed germination was the seed coat.