Storage potential of African mahogany seeds under different environmental and packaging conditions

ABSTRACT African mahogany (Khaya grandifoliola) is a forest species with excellent wood quality. Due to the increasing demand for viable seeds in forest production programs, the storage capacity of this species must be evaluated. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the appropriate environmental and packaging conditions for the storage of African mahogany seeds. Initially, the water content of the seeds, germination rate, and seedling length were determined in two environments (cold chamber and laboratory), two packages (polyethylene and glass), and three storage periods (72, 144, and 216 d) as well as in additional treatment without storage. The variables analyzed during storage were water content, germination capacity, germination speed index, and seedling length. The experiment was conducted in a completely random design with four repetitions in a split-plot scheme and an additional treatment of 2 × 3 × 2 + 1. African mahogany seeds stored in a cold chamber (6 °C and 72% relative humidity) in a polyethylene packaging maintained their physiological quality for 216 d.摘要：非洲桃花心木（Khaya grandifoliola）是一种用材品质优良的林木树种。随着林业生产项目对有活力种子的需求日益增长，亟需对该树种种子的贮藏潜力开展评估。因此，本研究旨在明确非洲桃花心木种子贮藏的适宜环境与包装条件。试验初始阶段，研究人员针对两种环境（冷柜（cold chamber）与实验室）、两种包装材料（聚乙烯（polyethylene）与玻璃容器）、三个贮藏周期（72、144和216天），以及无贮藏对照处理，分别测定了种子含水量、发芽率与幼苗长度。贮藏期间测定的指标包括种子含水量、发芽势、发芽速度指数以及幼苗长度。本试验采用完全随机设计，设置4次重复，采用裂区试验方案，处理组合为2×3×2+1。结果表明，采用聚乙烯包装、在冷柜（6℃、相对湿度72%）中贮藏的非洲桃花心木种子，其生理品质可维持216天。