DETERIORATION IN PEANUT (ARACHIS-HYPOGAEA L-CV FLORMAN) SEEDS UNDER NATURAL AND ACCELERATED AGING

Peanut seeds deteriorate rapidly during storage resulting in a loss of seed vigour. This research was established: a) to study the process of deterioration in whole seeds, cotyledons, and embryonic axes of peanut seeds subjected to natural and accelerated ageing, b) to analyze changes occurring in membranes under such conditions. The biochemical changes which take place in peanut seed membranes; aged both naturally and artificially, may be detected best in the embryonic axes, either through changes in leakage of electrolytes or in malondialdehyde (MDA) content. Our results also indicate that there were no changes in the relative proportion of oleic/linoleic acids in the axes after exposure to accelerated ageing for various lengths of time. Germination percentage was not a sensitive assay for detecting the degree of deterioration in peanuts. These results demonstrate that changes in membrane integrity associated with seed deterioration occur first in the embryonic axes and can best be monitored by the conductivity seed vigour test.