ON NATURE OF SOAKING INJURY OF PHASEOLUS VULGARIS SEEDS

Phaseolus vulgaris L. seeds are often killed or show signs of severe injury after they have been soaked in water for periods exceeding a very few hours. But all ill effects can be largely or completely prevented by any one of the following: (a) removing the testa before or after soaking; (b) thorough or even partial drying of the soaked seed; (c) draining the seed after cutting off its end portion; (d) treatment of the seed with hydrogen peroxide before, during, or after soaking.Air bubbled through the soaking water can aggravate the injury. By contrast, injury from soaking can be prevented if oxygen has free access to the interior of the seeds until they have imbibed about one-third of the water required for germination.It is suggested that, despite microbial complications at a later stage, the soaking injury is caused at a critical early stage of germination by a deficient oxygen supply to the interior of the soaked seed, because during soaking the cavity between the cotyledons is flooded with an excess of water which remains trapped unless forcibly removed. © 1968 Oxford University Press.