Assessment of effect of different pre sowing treatment on seed of Terminalia chebula Retz

Introduction

Terminalia chebula Retz., is generally referred to as Harar, and in English, as Black Myrobalans it is native to South East Asia and India and is a member of the Combretaceae family. Its commercial name is chebulic myrobalans. Dark brown bark exfoliates in irregular woody scales and distinguishes this tree, which develops to be 10-15 meters tall. Pubescent leaves are ovate, oblong, and obtuse at the apex, with a rounded base. It thrives well in the temperature range of 32ºC to 45ºC and rainfall of 900 mm to 2500 mm. It withstands fire and has good power of recovery from burning. It coppices fairly well. Flowers are greenish-white, bisexual and fragrant in terminal spikes from April to August. Entomophiles open pollination is the usual mechanism of mating in most of the species belonging to the genus Terminalia including Terminalia chebula (Singh et al., 2003) [19] . Terminalia chebula, is a worldwide used ethnomedicinal plant. It is a rich source of hydrolyzable tannins such as chebulic acid, chebulagic acid, gallic acid, corrilagin and alkaloids which are extensively utilized in the development of non-toxic therapeutic herbal drugs. Fruits are greenish-yellow, ovoid, and ripen between November and March. The stone is very thick, bone grooved with gum capillaries on the wall. The 250 species that make up the genus Terminalia are mostly found in tropical regions of the world. One of the multifunctional and therapeutic agroforestry tree species. Along with the fruits of Terminalia bellirica and Emblica officinalis, this fruit is a key ingredient in "Triphala," which is used in ayurvedic remedies, and "chayvanprash," which is used as a dietary supplement and tonic. The species produces the main tannin that is valuable to the market. A significant source of tannin (25-32%) is T. chebula. The unripe fruit is used to cure diarrhea and dysentery since it is astringent and aperient in nature. Dry fruits that have been finely ground are used as a dentifrice, while coarsely ground fruits are smoked in a pipe to relieve asthma. Ash combined with butter makes a wonderful sore salve, and fruit is given in conjunction with other medications to treat snakebite (Hukkeri et al., 2010) [9] . Terminalia chebula fruit is revered by other traditional healers and is regarded as the "king of medicines" by Tibetans and ayurvedic apothecaries (Saleem et al., 2002) [16] . The first stage of a plant's life cycle, known as seed germination, starts when a dry, dormant seed absorbs water and is finished when the radicle emerges from the seed coat. According to Chandra et al. (2024), seed germination is a complicated process that incorporates several signals and is impacted by both internal and external variables. Imbibition, in which the seed takes water, is the first step in the complex biological process of germination. Enzymes are then triggered to transform starches into sugars, giving the embryo the essential resources it needs (Tiwari et al., 2024). The radicle's enlargement, which signals the beginning of growth, is the first sign of germination. The size of the seed determines how long it takes for seedlings to appear. Larger seeds may stretch their epicotyl to the surface and germinate at deeper depths because they have larger nutritional stores. However, smaller seeds usually develop closer to the surface and emerge more quickly. Despite their many applications, chebula trees are endangered, which is the primary reason for the sharp decline in their numbers across the globe. Chebula seeds have a low germination rate in the field because of their hard endocarp, thick endocarp shell, and poor kernel development (Troup, 1921) [22] . Another aspect is seed dormancy, which inhibits seed germination even when favourable germination conditions, such as soil moisture and temperature, are provided.

Materials and Methods

Study site

During the months of April to June 2025, experiments have been conducted in area of Mohla-Mapur-Ambagarh Chowki District. The district was located between 20.59°N, 80.75°E. The Mohla-Manpur-Ambagarh Chowki district in Chhattisgarh, India, covers an area of 2145.29 square kilometers. Summers (April to June) are particularly hot, with temperatures potentially reaching 48 °C (100°F). The monsoon season brings significant rainfall, and the district is also prone to droughts and harsh summers.

Seed collection area

Seeds were collected from the forest stands of Balod district locally, Chhattisgarh. The seeds were collected in the month of January and February 2025.

Pre-sowing treatments

Seeds of Terminalia chebula were treated to six different presowing treatments to assess the germination behaviour of seeds in different treatments. Table 1 lists the specifics of six different treatments.

Experimental Design

The germination test was set up in a complete randomized design (CRD). Three replications were used for each of the six treatments, which included a control. For each replication, 16 seeds were planted in poly bags at the nursery (one seed per Poly bag) to examine the impact of pre-sowing interventions on Terminalia chebula seed germination. For the experiment, 48 seeds from each treatment were sampled and sowed in polybags.

To investigate the germination behavior of Terminalia chebula seeds, the following observation was made. Daily observations of germination following seed sowing in the nursery. The seedling emergence count was determined when the seedling appeared after being sown. Both the number of days and the number of seedlings that had completely emerged above the soil surface were noted.

Germination percent

Germination of seeds in each treatment was recorded daily up to 90 days. The seeds were considered as germinated when the cotyledonary leaves emerged out of the soil. From the daily germination count, percent seed germination was recorded.

Results and Discussion

The goal of the present study was to see how different presowing treatments affected seed germination of Terminalia chebula.

No. of days to Seedling Emergence

The control treatment benefits from pre-sowing treatments. Mechanically treated seeds (Breaking of Seed coat through stone, T4) took fewer days (18.27 DAS) to produce seedlings than T2, which was soaked in cold water for 48 hours and germinated in 22.27 DAS. Another treatment T1 soaked in cold water for 24 hours germinated in 33.07 DAS and T3 was submerged seed into cow dung slurry for 24 hours, and the seeds germinated in 29.33 DAS. The germination of seeds occurred in seed pelleting (T5) is 35.13 DAS and 47.13 DAS under the control treatment (T0) (Table 2). In Hippophae rhamnoides and Cassia angustifolia, respectively, Olmez (2011) and Bhuse et al.

(2001) documented the impact of pre-treatments on reducing the number of days till seedling emergence.

Germination percentage

The treatments that showed the greatest germination percentage (72.91%) were T4, which involved mechanically shattering the seed coat through stone and spreading the seed; T2 involved soaked in cold water for 48 hours (62.5%); and T3 involved soaked in cow dung slurry for 24 hours (52.08%). Conversely, the germination rate was the lowest (20.83%) for the control treatment (T0). However, T1 and T5 germination rate was 41.66% and 35.41% (Table 2). Kumar et al. (2024) found that Terminalia chebula seeds had the highest germination rate (66.7%) when subjected to a 48-hour cold-water soak, with the germination rate rising to 73% when the seeds were de-pulped prior to soaking.

Mean Daily Germination

The highest (0.38) Mean daily germination was observed in seeds that were mechanically treated (Breaking of Seed coat through stone-T4) followed by T2 -soaked in cold water for 48 hours (0.33) followed by T3 -soaked in cow dung slurry for 24 hours (0.27), followed by T1 -soaked in cold water for 24 hours (0.22) and T5 -seed pelleting with clay powder as filler material and gum arabic as binding material (0.18), while the lowest (0.11) was observed in control treatment. Additionally, Kumar, V. (2016) discovered that seeds (Terminalia bellerica) that had their pulp removed and soaked in water for 24 hours had the highest mean daily germination.

Peak value

The peak value was significantly varied due to various presowing treatments. The highest (0.8) peak value was observed in Seeds that is mechanically treated (T4 -Breaking of Seed coat through stone) followed by T2 -soaked in cold water for 48 hours (0.7) while the minimum (0.2) was observed in the control treatment. According to Kumar, V. (2016), seeds (Terminalia bellerica) that had their pulp removed and soaked in water for 24 hours had the greatest peak germination value (1.63).

Germination value

The highest (0.31) germination value was observed in seeds that were mechanically treated (T4 -Breaking of seed coat through stone) followed by T2 -soaked in cold water for 48 hours (0.23) while the lowest (0.02) was observed in control. The fruit that was depulped and immersed in cold water for 48 hours had the maximum germination value (4.41), whereas the controlled seeds in Terminalia chebula had the lowest, according to Hossain et al. (2005) [7] .

Conclusion

Pre-sowing treatments are essential for increasing germination percentages in species with inherently poor germination rates, whether as a result of hard seed coats or dormancy. For any given species, the goal of nursery operations is to produce as many high-quality seedlings as possible while requiring the least amount of money, time, and labor. Terminalia chebula seeds, notably, are notorious for their stiff seed coats, which contribute to lengthy germination times and decreased success rates in nurseries. Therefore, compared to traditional nursery sowing methods, the investigation of several pre-sowing treatments in this study offers very useful benefits. The mechanical scarification technique (T4), which entails shattering the seed coat by hand, was shown to be a substantially more effective approach among those tested for T. chebula. The mean daily germination, peak value, and total germination value were all optimized as a result of this treatment, which also produced faster germination and a much greater germination percentage. When compared to the untreated control, soaking seeds in cold water for 48 hours (T2) after mechanical scarification also shown significant improvements in germination characteristics.

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