Effect of growth substances on germination and seedling growth of passion fruit (Passiflora edulis Sims.)

Introduction

Passion fruit (Passiflora edulis Sims.) belongs to the family Passifloraceae and is native to Brazil. It is an important tropical and subtropical perennial vine valued for its nutritional, medicinal and aromatic properties. It is commercially cultivated in countries such as Kenya, Australia, New Zealand, Hawaii, South Africa and Sri Lanka (Sema et al., 2009) [1] . In India, it is grown in several parts of the Western Ghats, including Nilgiris, Wayanad, Kodaikanal, Coorg and Malabar, as well as in Himachal Pradesh and the north-eastern states. The area under passion fruit cultivation in India is reported as 9,000 ha, with production of 34,000 MT and productivity of 3.78 MT ha -1 (Anonymous, 2025) [2] . The genus Passiflora comprises about 500 species, of which approximately 50 bear edible fruits. Two forms are commercially important: purple passion fruit (P. edulis var. edulis) and yellow passion fruit (P. edulis var. flavicarpa). Yellow passion fruit is characterized by vigorous growth, high yield potential and tolerance to certain soil-borne diseases, whereas cooler temperatures favour flower initiation and fruit set in purple passion fruit. Light to heavy sandy loam soils of medium texture with a pH of 6.5-7.5 are considered suitable for passion fruit production (Tripathi, 2018) [3] . Despite its economic importance, commercial production of passion fruit in India is constrained by poor seed germination and non-uniform seedling establishment. Seed propagation remains important for raising seedlings and rootstocks and germination is a critical stage because it directly influences seedling establishment and nursery efficiency. Slow, uneven or delayed germination may be associated with physical, chemical and physiological dormancy and embryo immaturity (Fávaris et al., 2020) [4] . Pre-germination treatments, including gibberellic acid (GA 3 ), thiourea, potassium nitrate and organic preparations, have been investigated to improve germination and early seedling establishment. Therefore, the present study was undertaken to evaluate the effects of different growth substances on seed germination and seedling vigour of passion fruit.

Materials and Methods

The investigation was conducted during 2025-26 at the nursery of the Arecanut Research Centre, Zonal Agricultural and Horticultural Research Station (ZAHRS), Navile, Shivamogga, Karnataka, India. The experimental site was located at 13°92′ N latitude and 75°56′ E longitude at an altitude of 640 m above mean sea level. The experiment was conducted under shade-net conditions. The experiment was laid out in a factorial completely randomized design (FCRD) with two fruit types, namely purple passion fruit (Passiflora edulis var. edulis) and yellow passion fruit (P. edulis var. flavicarpa) and 16 plant growth substance treatments, resulting in 32 treatment combinations with two replications. The treatments were control, normal water, hot water (50°C), panchagavya (2%), beejamrutha (2%), cow urine, GA 3 (250 and 500 ppm), thiourea (1 and 2%), H 2 SO 4 (1 and 2%), HCl (1 and 2%) and KNO 3 (0.5 and 1%). Seeds were collected from fully ripe, healthy passion fruits obtained from the field of Shri Jomy Mathew, a progressive farmer from Shivamogga, Karnataka. All the seeds were soaked in respective treatment combinations for 20 min prior sowing. Forty seeds per treatment were sown in 8 × 12 cm polybags containing soil, farmyard manure and sand in a 1:1:1 ratio, with three seeds per bag at a depth of 1.0-1.5 cm. Germination percentage was recorded at 60 days after sowing (DAS), and the number of days required to attain 50 per cent germination was recorded. At 120 DAS, seedling height, number of leaves, seedling vigour index-I and survival percentage were recorded.

Results and Discussion

Among the fruit types yellow passion fruit recorded 72.65 per cent germination at 60 days after sowing, compared to purple passion fruit 71.84 per cent. However, yellow passion fruit attained 50 per cent germination earlier (23.84 days) than purple passion fruit (25.24 days). Among the treatments, seeds treated with GA 3 250 ppm recorded the highest germination (95.14%) at 60 DAS and the earliest 50 per cent germination (13.75 days). Hot water was consistently inferior, with 31.15 per cent germination at 60 DAS and 51.25 days to 50 per cent germination. The interaction V 2 P 7 (yellow passion fruit seeds treated with GA 3 at 250 ppm) recorded the highest germination (95.50 % at 60 DAS) and the earliest 50 per cent germination (13.30 days), whereas V 1 P 3 (Purple passion fruit seed treated with hot water) recorded lowest germination per cent (28.80 %) and took more days to complete 50 per cent germination (52.30 days) (Table 1). This might be due to promotive effect of GA 3 in seed germination by stimulating the synthesis and activation of hydrolytic enzymes, including proteases and this hydrolyzed food is utilized for the growth of the embryo and thereby enhances the germination. Similar findings were reported by (Ferreira et al., 2001 [5] , Marostega et al., 2017 [6] , Pallavi et al., 2022 [7] and Narmatha et al., 2025 [8] ). [9] , reported that GA 3 at 500 ppm resulted in maximum seedling height in passion fruit. Comparable increases in plant height following GA 3 treatment were reported in guava by Manthri and Bharad (2017) [10] and Banyal et al. (2022) [11] , in kokum by Deshmukh et al. (2023) [12] and in papaya by Jagtap et al.

(2024) [13] . The superiority of GA 3 at 500 ppm for height can be explained by the well-established role of gibberellins in cell elongation, increased cell-wall extensibility and enhanced internodal growth. Once emergence had occurred, the higher GA 3 dose produced a stronger elongation response than 250 ppm. (Table 2) 3). , khirni by Bajaniya et al. (2018) [15] , jamun by Hota et al. (2018) [16] and papaya by Jagtap et al. (2024) [13] .

Conclusion

Under the conditions of the present investigation, yellow passion fruit generally showed superior seedling performance compared with purple passion fruit. GA 3 250 ppm was the most consistent treatment for rapid and high germination, seedling vigour and survival, while GA 3 500 ppm was particularly effective for seedling height, leaf number. Therefore, GA 3 at 250 ppm can be considered a promising seed treatment for improving germination, vigour and survival of purple and yellow passion fruit seedlings under the experimental conditions.

Acknowledgement

AcknowledgementsI sincerely express my heartfelt gratitude to my advisory committee members for their valuable guidance, constant encouragement and support throughout the course of my research. I also express my sincere gratitude to Mr. Jomy Mathew for his valuable support and for providing the planting material required for conducting my research

References

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