Medicinal Plants
Hoda Sajedimehr; M. Sajedimehr; majid azizi
Abstract
IntroductionMedicinal plants with a high level of antioxidant activity are of great importance due to their effect on a wide range of diseases such as diabetes, inflammatory diseases, Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, cardiovascular diseases, blood pressure and other diseases caused by oxidative stress. Therefore, ...
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IntroductionMedicinal plants with a high level of antioxidant activity are of great importance due to their effect on a wide range of diseases such as diabetes, inflammatory diseases, Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, cardiovascular diseases, blood pressure and other diseases caused by oxidative stress. Therefore, studying medicinal plants and extracting and identifying chemical properties and effective compounds in medicinal plants emphasizes the necessity of learning and using medicinal plants. Iranian shallot plant with the scientific name Allium hirtifolium is a species of the onion family (Alliaceae) and is one of the largest genera of the monocot group. Shallot plant is an important horticultural product that has been known and used as a vegetable, spice and medicinal plant since ancient times due to its useful properties. In this genus, there are economically important species such as: onions, garlic, shallots, chives and leeks. Germination and sprouting are one of the most important phenological stages (life cycle) of the plant. Having enough information about the phenological cycle of the plant leads to better management of the different stages of this cycle, which determines the degree of success of agricultural systems. Seedling germination and growth in the early stages are strongly influenced and controlled by environmental factors, especially temperature, soil moisture and seed quality (germination and seedling strength) and internal factors (growth regulators) such as Gibberellin and Abscisic acid hormones.In order to speed up the germination of seeds and eliminate seed dormancy so that germination can happen faster, there are different methods. One of these methods is mechanical or chemical scratching. The aim of this research is to present a precise and scientific description for the failure of Iranian shallot medicinal plant seed dormancy (Allium hirtifolium) and improvement in the acceleration of germination, considering the different characteristics in three populations of Iranian shallot seeds. Also, to increase the quality and accuracy in this research, a scanning electron microscope was also used to accurately determine the surface changes of the seeds before the acid-washing treatment with sulfuric acid and after the acid-washing treatment with sulfuric acid. In the previous research that has been carried out on Iranian shallot seeds, the simultaneous examination of different temperatures and different times of acid washing by sulfuric acid in a precise manner and with several populations that have different genotypes, as well as the use of Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) has not been done.Materials and methodsThe study was done to investigate the effect of different degrees of temperature, and different times of sulfuric acid for acid washing on the improvement of germination of three populations of Iranian shallot seeds (Allium hirtifolium). The effect of four different temperatures (5, 10, 15 and 20 degrees Celsius) inside the Germinator device and four different times of acid washing with sulfuric acid (0, 5, 10, 15 minutes) on germination and micromorphological characteristics of three populations of shallot plant (Feridon Shahr, Tiran and Khansar) was investigated. On the other hand, a scanning electron microscope (SEM) with different degrees of magnification was used for the effect of sulfuric acid treatment on the surface of the seed coat. The experiment was conducted as a factorial, in the form of a completely randomized design with four replications. At the end of the experiment, traits such as germination percentage, average germination time, germination speed, root length and shoot length were evaluated. Also, traits such as diameter, length, volume and weight of seeds in three populations of shallot were also analyzed statistically.Conclusion and discussionThe results of electron microscopy showed that in all three populations of Iranian shallot seeds, the seed coat, after using the acid washing treatment with sulfuric acid for 15 minutes, underwent noticeable and significant changes compared to the control seeds. The surface of the seed is destroyed by sulfuric acid and the surface of the seed does not have its natural ornamentation and protrusions compared to the control. Also, the effect of temperature, duration of acid washing and seed population on germination percentage, germination speed, average germination duration, seedling root length and seedling length was significant at the 1% probability level (p≤0.01). The population of Fereydoun Shahr has the highest germination percentage (69.16 percent), germination speed 3.7 (number of seeds per day) and average duration of germination 9.64 (number of seeds per day) at a temperature of 5 degrees Celsius and acid washing time of 15 minutes. The maximum shoot length and root length were 19.7 and 8.81 (mm) in the Tiran population with a temperature of 20 degrees Celsius and a 15-minute acid washing time, and in the Khansar population with a temperature of 20 degrees Celsius and time of 5 minutes acid washing respectively. The results show that, according to the dormancy of the seeds and their need for cold, the best temperature for shallot seed germination is 5 degrees Celsius with 15 minutes of acid washing by sulfuric acid. Diversity in shallot plant populations has a significant effect on the performance of this plant in improving seed germination.AcknowledgeWe thank Ferdowsi University of Mashhad and the Isfahan University of Technology.Keywords: shallot diversity (seed morphology), stratification, seed scarification, germination, scanning electron microscope (SEM)
Pomology
Tavakil Rasteh; Javad Erfani moghadam; Seyyed Samih Marashi
Abstract
IntroductionThe date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) belongs to the family Arecaceae is a dioecious trees. Due to the problems of non-overlapping flowering of some male and female palm trees, commercial date production requires artificial pollination. Temperature is an important environmental factor influencing ...
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IntroductionThe date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) belongs to the family Arecaceae is a dioecious trees. Due to the problems of non-overlapping flowering of some male and female palm trees, commercial date production requires artificial pollination. Temperature is an important environmental factor influencing the pollination, fertilization and fruit set of the date palm. Availability of efficient male pollinators are of great importance in date palm production chain and for regular yearly bearing as the quantity and quality of pollen is a yield determining factor. The flowering and pollination period of date palm varies upon cultivar, geographic location and climatic conditions. However, frequent asynchronous flowering of date palm male and female trees occur due to climatic changes and abiotic stress. In such cases, farmers may pollinate their trees with pollen of a known male conserved at ambient conditions from the previous season; however, this is mostly result in a low fruit set and yield.Materials and MethodsIn this study, a factorial test was performed based on a completely random design with three replications at the laboratory of the Horticulture department at Ilam University to determine the rate of germination in five male date palm cultivars. The first factor consisted of nine temperature levels of 15, 18, 21, 24, 27, 30, 33, 36 and 39 and the second factor referred to the cultivar of the pollinator which had five levels of ‘Ghanami Sorkh’, ‘Ghanami Sabz’, ‘Sabz Parak’, ‘Nare Pakutah’ and ‘Khareji’. The pollen of the above-mentioned cultivars was obtained from the date palm Germplasm collection at the Date Palm and Iranian Tropical Fruits Institute in the city of Ahwaz. In the early days of the flowering season (March), the cultivars under study were identified and labeled. They were then checked on a daily basis and whenever the sheaths were ripe enough, they were picked and preserved in a sterile environment in room temperature. After the sheaths opened, the flower clusters were dried in the same environment and at the same temperature. Then, the cluster strings were separated and kept in a freezer at -18 °C until it was time for the test. Viability and vitality of the pollen was specified through the dying method using Acetocarmine solution.Results and DiscussionThe results showed that there was a significant difference among cultivars, temperature and interactions of them at the level of 1%. Among the studied temperatures, the highest germination of pollen grains in all cultivars occurred at 30 °C, followed by 33 °C and 27 °C, respectively, and the lowest germination percentage were obtained at 15 °C. Among cultivars, the percentage of pollen germination in ‘Ghanami Sorkh’ was quite high (92.45%), and ‘Nare Pakutah’ (87.33%), also, simultaneously ‘Sabz Parak’ (84.82%) and in the ‘Khareji’ cultivar was the lowest. However, the percentage of pollen germination in ‘Ghanami Sorkh’ cultivar was higher than 59% under a wide range of temperature from 21 to 39 °C. Furthermore, the percentage of Pollen germination was reduced rapidly at temperatures less than 21 Cº and reach 15.85% in 15 °C. The germination percentage of pollen grains in ‘Nare Pakutah’ cultivar in the temperature range of 21 to 39 degrees Celsius was higher than 57%. The germination percentage of pollen grains in ‘Sabz Parak’ cultivar decreased with less acceleration than ‘Ghanami Sorkh’ at lower and upper temperatures of 30 °C, so that at 36 and 39 °C had the highest amount of germination compared to the other cultivars. Also, the germination rate of pollens in ‘Ghanami Sorkh’ cultivar were investigated above 57% in the wide temperature range from 21 to 39 °C.ConclusionAccording to the findings of this study, the timing of pollination plays a crucial role in the fertility of male date palm cultivars, with the optimal temperature being around 30°C. It is essential to select cultivars that exhibit a high rate of pollen germination and contribute positively to fruit properties. Male cultivars such as 'Ghanami Sorkh', 'Sabz Parak', and 'Nare Pakutah' demonstrated a broader range of optimum temperatures for pollen germination. Therefore, these cultivars are recommended for climates characterized by significant temperature fluctuations during the flowering period of female date palms.
Hassan Farhadi; Majid Azizi; Seyyed Hossein Nemati
Abstract
Introduction: Drought is an event that happens due to lack of rainfall in a period of time. The occurrence of drought, reduces available soil water, but water losses through evaporation and transpiration is constantly increasing. The first stage of the plant, which may be faced with drought, is ...
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Introduction: Drought is an event that happens due to lack of rainfall in a period of time. The occurrence of drought, reduces available soil water, but water losses through evaporation and transpiration is constantly increasing. The first stage of the plant, which may be faced with drought, is germinating. Since Germination begins with water uptake, lack of water at this stage in terms of duration and intensity of the stress causes or reduce germination percentage and germination rate. Because of the heterogeneity of soils in the field and lack of control of the environmental factors such as drought, laboratory research on the stress is considered. Some of these methods can be used to study the reaction of the landraces to the solutions from materials polyethylene glycol. This study aimed to investigate the characteristics of the native population of fenugreek germinating rate under drought stress conditions and identify landrace was incurred.
Materials and Methods: To investigate the effect of drought stress on germination and seedling growth characteristics of native landrace fenugreek, an experiment was conducted in a Completely Randomized Design with three replications in Seed Laboratory of University of Mashhad in 2014. The experiment treatments consisted of eight landraces of fenugreek of Esfahan, Tabriz, Hamedan, Sari, Challous, Amol, Mashhad and Yassooj on polyethylene glycol 6000 (PEG 6000) at four levels: (0, 3, 6 and 9 times) were replicated three times. The stress test for the simulation of polyethylene glycol 6000 was used and the amount of material needed to create each of the stress levels using the formula Michel and Kaufmann respectively. To (control) and distilled water was used. Landraces seed of fenugreek the city of Esfahan, Tabriz, Hamedan, Sari, Challous, Amol, Mashhad and Yassooj purchased before the start of the experiment with a three percent solution of hypochlorite for two minutes to disinfect and then were washed three times with distilled water on the twelfth day, seeds and traits such as root length and root out the Petri measure.
Results and Discussion: In the study the interactions between landrace and drought, the rate of decline in most of the traits was related to native populations of fenugreek, Tabriz, Hamadan, Sari, Challous, Amol, Yasuj and Mashhad, respectively (-9 times) compared to control (0 times). As can be seen, the Isfahan landrace was more stable in most of the traits due to changes in drought levels. On the other hand, as the drought stress increased, the percentage and rate of germination of fenugreek seeds decreased. Fenugreek seed germination rate and percentage with increased drought stress the germination rate under drought stress sensitivity was higher than the percentage of germinating. The plants grow in different stages react differently to drought show seed germination and seedling production and a dry condition indicates that the plant is a potential for drought tolerance but that does not mean that the seedlings start to grow in dry conditions, can continue to grow in the same conditions.
Ali Farhadi; Hossein Arouiee; Seyyed Hossein Nemati; Reza Salehi; Francesco Giuffrida
Abstract
Introduction: Salinity stress is regarded as one of the most important abiotic factors in plant limiting growth, particularly in arid and semi-arid regions. The reduction of plant growth by salinity stress has been well documented. When water supply is limited, plant structure is modified by increasing ...
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Introduction: Salinity stress is regarded as one of the most important abiotic factors in plant limiting growth, particularly in arid and semi-arid regions. The reduction of plant growth by salinity stress has been well documented. When water supply is limited, plant structure is modified by increasing the root: shoot ratio. To reduce of losses in vegetative growth and production of plant and to improve water use efficiency under saline conditions in high-yielding genotypes grafting them onto rootstocks could bereduced the effect of saline stress on plant shoot. Grafting is a routine technique in continuous cropping systems. Most of the species of cucurbits are distributed in the dry regions. The objective of this studywas investigated the effectiveness of salinity stress on accessions of cucurbita and hybrid inter specific which enter from another country to Iran.
Materials and Methods: This research was conducted in laboratory and greenhouse at the Research Center of Agricultural and Natural Resources of Isfahan during 2013-2014 growing season. A factorial experiment based on completely randomized design with three replications was conducted for rootstock and irrigation water salinity.. In the first experiment 25 seeds of rootstocks were sown in petri dishes with 10 cm diameter and irrigated by 10 ml of saline water. Rootstocks included 20 different local landraces and interspecific hybrids (C.moschata cv. Isfahan and Koshk, C.pepo cv. Alvar, Tiran, Koshk and Asgharabad, C. maxima cv. Kermanshah, Shahreza, Mohamadiyeh and Alvar, Lagenaria Siceraria, Luffa cylindrica, Trichosanthes cucumerina, RZ-Ferro, Es113, Ews910, Ews909, Ews913, 426 and Es152). Salinity stress was 6 levels (0, 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 ds/m of NaCl). Germination, diameter of stem, height of root and stem, shoot and root fresh mass, vigor index and root: shoot ratio were evaluated. In the second experiment seeds were sown in plastic pot by soil media. Seedlings were irrigated daily with 200 ml of saline water (0, 2 and 4 ds/m) for 35 days. Excess solution was allowed to drain from the plants through drainage holes in the base of the pots. Hybrids of 152,426 and Trichosanthes cucumerina, Luffa cylindrical and Cucurbita pepo con. Pepo var. Styriaca was added. In the second phase measured shoot and root dry mass, SPAD index, relatively water content and seedling vigor index.
Results and Discussion: the results showed that all parameters were significantly influenced by salinity except root: shoot ratio in Petri dish. Salinity stress reduced chlorophyll index (SPAD), relative water content in cucurbita leaves than control (without saline) and also seeds germination, seedlings fresh mass and seedlings vigour by 51%, 53%, and 75 % respectively. .The shoot dry biomass of local landrace and inter specific hybrids in both experiment decreased linearly in response to increasing saline stress. Recorded data in Petri dish and plastic pot were significantly influenced by rootstock, whereas no significant difference was observed on germination rate and vigor index for plastic pot in greenhouse. The lowest seed germination percentage, seedling growth, vigor index and root: shoot ratio recorded on high saline concentration. NaCl threshold damage to cucurbits was evaluated 4 ds/m. Populations of C. maxima cv.Kermanshah and Shahreza, C.moschata cv. Isfahan and inters pecific hybrids Ferro, 909 and 910 were showed tolerant to salinity. It is proven that crop growth decreases with increasing saline stress (Rouphael, et al., 2012). Hybrids of C. moschata cv. Koshk, C. pepo cv. Koshk and Asgharabad, Lagenaria Siceraria, Es113 and Cucurbita pepo con. Pepo var. Styriaca were sensitive to saline stress. Kumar et al, (2008) also reported plant response to salinity depends on type of salt, salt concentration and plant genotype.
Conclusions: Salinity stress adversely affect biomass and leaf water content of cucurbita. Our results indicated that local and hybrid cucurbit plants exhibited different response to saline stress. Hybrid rootstocks 909, 910 and Ferro were tolerant to salinity. Although local landrace C. maxima. cv. Shahreza and Kermanshah, C. moschata cv. Isfahan and C. pepo cv. Tiran were tolerant to salinity. Sensitivity to saline stress was similar between some local landrace and hybrid plants. Finally, after grafting in cucurbita rootstocks needs more research to use water, wast water, NaCl and other resources of salinity and to find the most tolerant rootstock.
Safdar Pourmombeini; Noorolah Moalemi
Abstract
Introduction: Dodonaeaviscosa is an evergreen and perennial shrub which distributed widely in warm regions throughout the world. Untreated seeds germinatewell, but to shorten germination, seeds werefloated in hot water for 30 seconds, then cooled down rapidly. In addition, scarification as pre-treatment ...
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Introduction: Dodonaeaviscosa is an evergreen and perennial shrub which distributed widely in warm regions throughout the world. Untreated seeds germinatewell, but to shorten germination, seeds werefloated in hot water for 30 seconds, then cooled down rapidly. In addition, scarification as pre-treatment and dipping the seed in boiling water improve seed germination. Under salinity,the level of abscisic acid increases more than gibberellic acid which prevents seeds germination. Accumulation of Na+ and Cl- ions can lead to changes in water status in plant tissues and creating a series of second stress, such as oxidative stress. In priming, seeds are authorized to absorb some water, sothat, the early stages of germination are donewithout root emerging. The country of Iran and especiallyKhozestan province is located in arid and semi-arid region of the world, sounder such conditionand dueto high temperature and low rainfall, and salinity of water sources and media, D.viscosasexual reproduction is suffered by serious challenges. Consequently,the objective of this study was to investigate the effectsof hydro and osmo-priming in combining withgibberellic acid and potassium nitrate on seed germination of D.viscosaunder salinity stress.
Materials and Methods: Two experiments in 2010 wereconducted separately and consecutively in completely randomized design with five treatments and four replications in the plant propagation laboratory of faculty of Agriculture, ShahidChamran University of Ahvaz (latitude 31.33° N, longitude 48.69° E, altitude 23 m). In the first experiment, 500 seeds were selected from seed lot, and were disinfectedwith sodium hypochlorite 2.5%, afterwards, divided into five categories (each category consisted of 100 seeds in four replicates) and were treated as : 1) Osmo-priming with gibberellic acid 50 and 100 mg.l-1 and potassium nitrate 0.5 and 1 % for 12 h. 2) hydro-primed with distilled water (as control) for 12 h. A week later second experiment wascarried out (with 500 seeds from some initial seedlot) base of the best result obtained in the first experiment to study theeffects of salinityonseed germination. Seeds weretreated withgibberellic acid(50 mg.l-1)for 12 h. During germination, seeds were irrigated with different levels of salinity, including 0.0 (distilled water as control), 3, 6, 9 and 12 ds.m-1using NaCl salt (as halopriming). Analysis of data (ANOVA) wasperformed by procedure within thestatistical software MSTAT-C and means were separated by multiple-rangetest of Duncan’s at (p
Morteza Goldani; Sedigheh Mazroi
Abstract
Introduction: B. campestris is an old plant that commonly grows in arid and semi-arid areas. It has mucilage in the epidermal cells of canola seeds, a considerable variation in growth form and characteristics across the many cultivars. These species have in general, a flat root without an elongated crown, ...
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Introduction: B. campestris is an old plant that commonly grows in arid and semi-arid areas. It has mucilage in the epidermal cells of canola seeds, a considerable variation in growth form and characteristics across the many cultivars. These species have in general, a flat root without an elongated crown, with stems that typically grow 30 to 120 cm tall. The leaves are large, soft, smooth or soft-hairy. The yellow flowers are small, usually less than 2 cm long (24). Seed priming is a procedure in which seed is soaked and then dried back to its original water content. Hydropriming uses only water in the process of controlled imbibitions, but osmopriming simply means soaking seeds in an osmotic solution. Seed priming is a technique of controlled hydration and drying that results in more rapid germination when the seed is reimbibed. Priming can be a valuable process for improving germination and uniformity of heterogeneously matured seed lots. Seed priming has been successfully demonstrated to improve germination and emergence in seeds of many crops, particularly vegetables and small seeded grasses. Seed priming is a presowing strategy for influencing seedling development by modulating pregermination metabolic activity prior to emergence of the radicle and generally enhances germination rate and plant performance. Fast germination and uniform emergence assist the farmer to “catch up” on the time lost to drought (17, 18). This research aimed to study the effect of the best treatments of osmopriming and hydropriming on varieties of mustard seed germination traits was conducted.
Materials and Methods: The present research was conducted under laboratory conditions of the Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Iran, during 2012 to determine the seed priming effects on germination traits of two cultivars of mustard. The experiment was in completely randomized design with six treatments. Seeds of two mustard cultivars including Goldrash and Parkland (Brassica compestris var.) were subjected to hydro priming and osmotic priming (-4 and -16 urea and Zinc sulfate solution with osmotic potential MPa) in laboratory conditions. Then germination performance was studied. To calculate the germination percentageand rate, mean germination time (MGT) and seed vigor, were used according to equation1, 2, 3and4(11).
1: Germination percentage= (n / N) × 100
2:
3: MGT= Σ(ni × ti)Σn
whereni is the number of newly germinated seeds at time of tiafter imbibing, and n = total number of emerged seeds.
4: Seed vigor= Germination percentage * dry weight
The soft ware macro, and charting in Excel software were used to analyze the data and LSD test at the 5% level was used for means comparison.
Results and Discussion: Priming treatments impressed radica and plumul length, germination percentage and rate, mean germination time and seed vigor at the 5% level (Table 3). As maximum germination percentage and rate at the control and hydropriming treatments and at least 16 MPa at osmopriming zinc were (respectively 6/14 and 92/0% for Parkland and 6/82, and 15% for Goldrash)(Tables 1, 2). Given that most of micronutrients such as zinc, copper, cobalt thatare also classified as heavy metals when their concentrations in soil and plant tissues above the plant are sufficient to cause poisoning, affect yield and plant growth (19). It seems, the Goldrash compared to Parkland with imbibitions less metabolic activity has shown better and more tolerance to stresses caused by the toxicity of zinc.Hydropriming partially hydrated seeds and cellular turgescenceoccurs. In this experiment when compared to osmopriming, hydration process was accelerated in hydropriming treatment and germination indices were better. Benntt and Waters (3) reported no germination at osmopriming treatment for largeseed crops (such as corn and soybeans). This method can possibly include other osmotic elements uptake by seeds and create toxicity and reduced oxygen uptake at low osmotic potential was noted.
Conclusion: In this experiment, the priming process could increase seed vigor and seedling growth of cultivars. It seems that the use of zinc as a heavy metal toxicity in plant tissues and plant growth is reduced. The damage was more severe with increasing concentrations of heavy elements. But the Goldrash compared to Parkland has shown more tolerance and Goldrashhas shown better results in hydroponic conditions.
P. Abrishamchi; Ali Ganjeali; A. Beyk Khormizi; A. Avan
Abstract
Two separate experiments were carried out with the aim of investigating the effect of vermicompost and its aqueous extracts on traits related to germination and growth of tomato varieties, (Mobil and Superorbina). In the first experiment, 0.5, 1, 1.5, 2, 2.5, 5, 7.5, 10 and 100% extracts of vermicompost ...
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Two separate experiments were carried out with the aim of investigating the effect of vermicompost and its aqueous extracts on traits related to germination and growth of tomato varieties, (Mobil and Superorbina). In the first experiment, 0.5, 1, 1.5, 2, 2.5, 5, 7.5, 10 and 100% extracts of vermicompost (V - V) along with control (distilled water) were studied on germination of two varieties of tomato. The number of germinated seeds was counted each day and was sampled after a week. Then, the percentage and rate of germination and length and dry weight of shoot and root were determined. In the second experiment, volume ratios of vermicompost to sand, including to, 0:100; 10:90; 20:80; 40:60; 60:40; 80:20 and 100: 0, on tomato varieties seedling growth were investigated. The seeds were planted in plastic pots and the sampling of seedlings was carried out 22 days after planting. Both experiments were conducted in Completely Random Design with four replications. The results showed that vermicompost extract could not improve the growth of Mobil and Superorbina varieties, whereas application of vermicompost, had a significant effect on plant height, area and dry weight of leaves, stem dry weight, area, diameter and dry weight of roots and the concentration of potassium, calcium and phosphorus in tomato leaves. These results confirm that using low ratios of vermicompost, have more effect on the growth of tomato seedlings rather than high ratios, so that the maximum effect of vermicompost were recorded in the ratios of 20 and 40 % for Mobil and Superorbina varieties, respectively. In this experiment, high vermicompost ratios had a negative effect on growth of tomato seedlings.
V. Rouhi; Z. Rafiei
Abstract
Almonds belong to Prunus genus, which is related to Rosaceae family. It has close relatives with different species of stoned fruits. One of the main reasons for the long period of seed germination in Prunus is compound dormancy, such as the external seed cover as physical dormancy and embryo dormancy ...
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Almonds belong to Prunus genus, which is related to Rosaceae family. It has close relatives with different species of stoned fruits. One of the main reasons for the long period of seed germination in Prunus is compound dormancy, such as the external seed cover as physical dormancy and embryo dormancy causes physiological dormancy. Seed stratification and treatments with various hormones are used to eliminate the physiological dormancy in Prunus genus seeds. Ancillary methods such as removing the shell and scarification are used in order to eliminate physical dormancy. This research was carried out in order to study the effect of scarification (scarification or lack of scarification) and gibberellic acid (0, 150, 300 and 450 mg/lit) on percent and rate of germination in four species of almond (Three wild species; Prunus elaeagnifolia, P. scoparia and P. lycioides and one domestic species; P. dulcis) in factorial design based on completely randomized design with three replications. Removing the shell caused a significant increase in the percentage and rate of germination in all species. In general, treatment of seeds with 300 mg/lit gibberellic acid increased percentage and rate of germination than control significantly, but according to depth of seed dormancy, the response of the species to the concentrations of gibberellic acid was different. According to the results, the seed germination amount is different in different genotype.
