Acta agriculturae Slovenica, 118/1, 1–12, Ljubljana 2022 doi:10.14720/aas.2022.118.1.2444 Original research article / izvirni znanstveni članek Seed longevity characteristics of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) geno- types stored with different packaging materials under ambient tropical humid conditions Tolulope Olaitan KEHINDE 1, 2, Moruf Ayodele ADEBISI 1, Isiaq Omoniyi LAWAL 3, Muibat Modupe SHITTU 1 and Evlin Ese OKWI 1 Received December 01, 2021; accepted February 15, 2022. Delo je prispelo 1. decembra 2021, sprejeto 15. februarja 2022 1 Department of Plant Breeding and Seed Technology, Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Nigeria 2 Corresponding author, e-mail: kehindeto@funaab.edu.ng 3 Department of Plant Physiology and Crop Production, Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Nigeria Seed longevity characteristics of tomato (Solanum lycopersi- cum L.) genotypes stored with different packaging materials under ambient tropical humid conditions Abstract: Tomato seeds have a high commercial value, and the loss of seed physiological quality over time is demon- strated by their low storability unless hermetic conditions are used. This study aimed to store and preserve seed quality under ambient conditions using different packaging materials such as plastic bottles, glass bottles, paper envelope, earthen pot, polyethylene bag, galvanized iron tin. Freshly harvested seeds of four tomato genotypes were packed inside different contain- ers and then sealed and stored for eight months under ambi- ent humid tropical conditions. Data collected were subjected to Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and means were separated us- ing Tukey’s HSD test at 5 % probability level. The result revealed that envelope and earthen pot were not ideal for tomato seed storage for long time, because seed stored in air tight contain- ers maintained desired seed quality than non- airtight packag- ing materials. Glass bottle was identified as the best packaging material in maintaining seed quality of tomato throughout the storage period. Tomato seeds could be stored up to between 120 and 180 days under ambient conditions, depending on geno- type and storage medium of the seed lot. Key words: seed deterioration; seed quality; storage life; storage container Vzdrževanje vitalnosti semen različnih genotipov paradižni- ka (Solanum lycopersicum L. ) shranjenih različno v vlažnih tropskih ambientalnih razmerah Izvleček: Semena paradižnika imajo veliko tržno vre- dnost in izguba njihove fiziološke kakovosti nastopi hitro, če niso shranjena v zrakotesnih razmerah. Namen raziskave je bil shranjevati in ohranjati kakovost semen v ambientalnih razme- rah z uporabo različnih materialov kot so plastične steklenice, steklenke, papirnate vrečke, glineni lonci, polietilenske vrečke in pocinane železne posode. Sveža semena štirih tipov para- dižnika za bila shranjena v različne shranjevalnike, ki so jih zapečatili in hranili osem mesecev v vlažnih tropskih bivalnih razmerah. Pridobljeni podatki so bili obdelani z analizo vari- ance (ANOVA), poprečja so bila ločenam s Tuckeyevim tesom (Tukey’s HSD test) pri 5 % verjetnosti. Rezultati so pokazali, da papirnate vrečke in glinene posode niso primerne za daljše shranjevanje semen, kajti, semena ki so bila shranjena v zrako- tesnih shranjevalnikih so ohranila zaželjeno kakovost v primer- javi s tistimi, ki so bila shranjena v zračnih ovojih ali posodah. Za daljše shranjevanje semen paradižnika so se izkazale naj- boljše steklenice. Semena paradižnika so v ambientalnih raz- merah lahko shranjena od 120 do 180 dni, odvisno od genotipa in materiala, v katerem so shranjena. Ključne besede: propadanje semen; kakovost semen; dol- žina shranjevanja; shranjevalniki Acta agriculturae Slovenica, 118/1 – 20222 T. O. KEHINDE et al. 1 INTRODUCTION Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) is a member of the Solanaceae family which is famous for a number of medicinal and nutritional properties. Botanically, this fruit is known as berry (Salunkhe et al., 2005). Though it is a perennial crop but some of its cultivars are grown as an annual crop in various parts of the world (Nunes et al., 1996; Knapp, 2002). Tomato is one of the most important vegetables grown for edible fruits consumption in virtu- ally every home in Nigeria. There are thousands of varie- ties of tomatoes in array of shapes, colours and size. The most common shapes are round (beefsteak and globe), pear shaped (roma) and the tiny cherry sized (cherry and grape) (Demir and Ellis, 1992). Tomato seeds have a high commercial value, and the loss of seed physiological quality over time is demon- strated by their low storability unless hermetic conditions are used (Tigist et al., 2012). As a result, the development of satisfactory seed vigour test must be used and intensi- fied. Slow, asynchronous and unreliable germination and emergence, within germinable, low vigour seeds, arise due to seed ageing (Mathew, 1980) and lead to problems for successful vegetable production. The fact that seeds of most species can be dried and stored from year to year has been exploited since the beginning of agriculture. Indeed, the ability of many or- thodox seeds (Roberts, 1973) to remain viable for tens or hundreds of years in dry storage (Walter et al., 2005) means that they also provide a convenient vehicle for the long term ex-situ conversation of plant germplasm (Probert et al., 2009). The principal purpose of seed storage is to preserve economic crops from one season to another. Seed lon- gevity refers to how long a seed can be stored under given set of conditions, how long a seed can remain dormant and still remain viable (Kehinde, 2018). Storage tempera- ture and moisture content are the most important factors affecting seed longevity, with seed moisture content usu- ally being more influential than temperature. The effect of temperature, the availability of oxygen and the greater improvement in deteriorated low vigour seeds were cited as evidence in support of metabolic repair during aerated hydration treatment (Thornton and Powell, 1992). During storage, seed quality can remain at the ini- tial level or decline to a level that may make the seed un- acceptable for planting purpose. Several environmental factors have been reported to affect seed viability during storage (Rindels, 1995). Some of the factors that affect the longevity of seeds in storage could be genotype of seed, initial seed quality, storage conditions, and moisture con- tent among others. Within the same plant species, differ- ent varieties may exhibit different storing abilities either from genetic variation or other external factors (Simic et al., 2007). However, irrespective of the initial seed qual- ity, unfavorable storage conditions, particularly air tem- perature and relative humidity contribute to accelerating seed deterioration (Heatherly and Elmore, 2004). High relatively humidity and temperature cause high moisture content in seeds and result in low germination at the end of storage (McCormack, 2004). In Nigeria and Ghana, most small holder farmers store their seeds in various containers including: pieces of cloth, black polyethylene bag, galvanized tin, clay pots, and plastic containers, mostly under ambient conditions (Adetumbi et al., 2009; Bortey et al., 2011; Akintobi et al., 2006). Additionally, several studies have indicated that storage containers affected the quality of seeds in terms of germination and viability over a period of time (Bortey et al., 2016). However, it has been reported that the intensity decreasing quality of stored seed under different storage techniques differ among plant species and within plant species (Al-Yahya, 2001) and as well as among varieties. Thus the type and choice of container used in storing seed is crucial in ensuring that the seed longevity characteristics of seed are maintained during storage. Tomato is a common vegetable used frequently in the households. Thus, it is essential to have statistical es- timates of seed longevity in order to decide efficient read- ily available storage conditions for seed storage and be able to predict how long seeds will store under ambient conditions. Moreover, since the effect of these storage materi- als on the quality of seeds of different crops may vary, it is important to investigate and establish the most suit- able storage material and condition for various food crop seeds. This would provide seed producers, breeders and farmers information on how to maintain the integrity of the seed during storage. The objectives of this study were therefore to: to evaluate the potential of packaging mate- rials (storage containers) for preservation of tomato seed for seed physiological quality and to estimate potential seed longevity of some tomato genotypes stored under ambient conditions using probit modelling. 2 MATERIALS AND METHODS 2.1 SEED MATERIALS AND SOURCE Four genotypes of tomato seeds (‘Tropimech’, ‘Alausa’, ‘Cobra F1’ hybrid and ‘Roma VF’) used in the study were sourced from National Institute of Horticul- ture (NIHORT), Ibadan, Nigeria. Acta agriculturae Slovenica, 118/1 – 2022 3 Seed longevity characteristics of tomato ... genotypes stored with different packaging materials under ambient tropical humid conditions 2.2 STORAGE MATERIALS Six storage materials were selected for the study, namely: plastic bottles, glass bottles, earthen pot, poly- ethylene bag, galvanized iron tin and paper envelope (control). The storage containers were selected on the following bases: polyethylene is being recommended as most cost-effective material. It is durable and reusable. In rural area, our fathers put their seeds in the earthen pot. Plastic and glass bottle are always available at ceremonies and common household and can be used as storage ma- terials for some of the vegetables at no cost. Galvanized iron tin has a sealing which are always effective, read- ily available and easy to get. Most seeds are packaged in small envelope paper bags. 2.3 EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN The trial was factorially arranged and laid out in completely randomized design with three replicates. There were three factors thus: cultivar at four levels; packaging materials at six levels; storage periods at five levels i.e. 0, 60,120,180 and 240 days. The treatments combination was 5 x 6 x 5 = 150 treatments and was rep- licated thrice. 2.4 STORAGE ENVIRONMENT Storage and every other test were done in the pro- cessing and storage unit and in the laboratory of Plant Breeding and Seed Technology Department respective- ly, College Plant Science and Crop Production (COL- PLANT), Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB), Ogun State, Nigeria under ambient condi- tions. The temperature and relative humidity of the stor- age environment were monitored daily throughout the storage period with a thermo hygrometer. 2.5 SEED DATA COLLECTION AND PARAM- ETERS ANALYSED Data were collected on the following seed quality characters at 60 days interval for 240 days. 2.5.1 Seed viability test This test was carried out in the laboratory. Hundred seeds in three replications were placed inside Petri dish in an incubator maintained at 7 ml of distilled water and germination count was taken at 7 days and germinated seeds defined as those with a radicle of at least 2 mm long (ISTA, 1995). Seed viability was then determined as: (Viability count at 7 days / Number of seeds sown) x 100 2.5.2 Rate of germination This was determined from viability test at 3 days af- ter germination as: (Normal germination at 3 days / Number of seeds sown) x 100 2.5.3 Seedling Length Shoot length of 10 randomly selected seedlings were measured using a ruler in centimetre (cm). 2.5.4 Seedling vigour index Seedling vigour index was computed as follows: (Normal germination at 3 days / Number of seeds sown) x 100 2.6 DATA ANALYSIS Data collected were subjected to analysis of vari- ance (ANOVA). Significant means were compared using Tukey HSD test at 5 % probability level. Probit analysis of mean percentage seed viability data was also done using the PROC statements of SAS. Seed longevity parameters were values of Ki (an estimate of the probit value of initial seed viability at the time of storage), slope (1/σ), an es- timate of rate of seed physiological deterioration, sigma (σ), the standard deviation of seed survival curve and an estimate of time taken to lose 1 probit seed viability, and P50, a measure of time taken for a seed lot to lose 50 % viability and estimate of absolute seed longevity (El- lis and Roberts, 1980; Daniel, 1997; Adebisi et al., 2008; Kehinde, 2018). 3 RESULTS Table 1 presents the influence of genotype on the four quality parameters of tomato seeds. For the varietal effect on rate of germination, ‘Tropimech’ hybrid had higher value of 72 %, ‘Roma VF’ and ‘Alausa’ were statis- Acta agriculturae Slovenica, 118/1 – 20224 T. O. KEHINDE et al. tically similar but had higher seed viability than ‘Cobra F1’ hybrid with 51.2 %. ‘Roma VF’, ‘Cobra F1’ hybrid and ‘Alausa’ had statistically similar and higher viability per- centage than ‘Tropimech’ (72.0) which was not signifi- cantly different from ‘Alausa’. For seedling length, ‘Roma VF’, ‘Tropimech’ and ‘Alausa’ had statistically similar val- ues but higher value than ‘Cobra F1’ hybrid. For seedling vigour, ‘Roma VF’ and ‘Alausa’ were statistically similar but higher than ‘Cobra F1’ hybrid (7.3) which was also not significantly different from ‘Tropimech’ vigour 7.6 %. The effect of packaging material (Table 1) shows that with rate of germination, galvanized iron tin had the highest percentage of 67.4 but was not significantly dif- ferent from 65.3 and 65.3 % values recorded by polyeth- ylene bag and glass bottle, respectively, and these latter was also not significantly different from that of earthen pot. But 59.8 and 60.6 % of plastic bottle and paper enve- lope had the lowest rate of germination respectively. For seed viability, glass bottle had the highest value of 81.8 % which was not significantly different from paper en- velope (80.0 %) and earthen pot had the lowest value of 70.2 %. The result was similar to that of seedling length except that glass bottle (10.2 cm) was not significantly different from paper envelope (8.1 cm). With seedling vigour, glass bottle had the highest value of 8.4 % which was not significantly different from paper envelope (8.1 %) and galvanized iron tin (7.9 %) followed by polyethyl- ene bag(7.6 %) which was not also significantly different from galvanized iron tin (7.9 %) and earthen pot which had the lowest value of (7.1  %) which was not signifi- cantly different from plastic bottle (7.3 %). Influence of storage time on quality parameters of tomato seeds (Table 1) shows that the storage time of 180 days had the highest percentage the rate of germination was not statistically different from 120 days, followed by the 60 days, then 0 days and 240 days which was the low- est. With seed viability, 120 days was the highest but not statistically different from 0 and 60 days while the lowest viability was recorded at 240 days of storage. For seed- ling length, 120 and 180 days had similar and the high- est value followed by 0 days, 240 days, the 60 days. For seedling vigour, 120 days had the highest value of 10.8 % which was not significantly different from 180 days fol- lowed by 0 days, while other storage time had statistically lower but similar values. Treatment Rate of germination at 3 days (%) Seed viability (%) Seedling length (cm) Seedling vigour (%) Genotypes Roma VF 65.8b 78.8a 9.9a 7.9ab Cobra F1 hybrid 51.2c 78.1a 9.1b 7.3c Tropimech 72.0a 75.7b 9.9a 7.6bc Alausa 65.6b 77.3ab 10.2a 8.2a Standard error 1.3 1.3 0.2 0.2 Packaging Material Polyethylene Bag 65.3ab 77.9cd 9.4a 7.6abc Plastic bottle 59.8c 75.4d 9.5b 7.3c Glass bottle 65.3ab 81.8a 10.2a 8.4a Paper envelope 60.6c 80.0ab 9.9ab 8.1a Earthen pot 63.5b 70.2e 9.8b 7.1c Galvanized Iron Tin 67.4b 79.6c 9.7b 7.9ab Standard Error 1.6 1.6 0.2 0.2 Storage Time 0 days 53.7c 79.8b 9.5b 7.6b 60 days 66.4b 77.8b 6.7d 5.3c 120 days 82.2a 88.8a 12.3a 10.9a 180 days 83.1a 83.4ab 12.3a 10.4a 240 days 32.9d 57.6c 7.9c 4.6c Standard Error 1.5 1.5 0.2 0.2 Table 1: Influence of treatment (genotype, storage time, package material) on quality parameters on tomato seeds under ambient conditions Means followed by the same alphabet along the column are not different from each other at 5 % probability level according to Tukey’s HSD test Acta agriculturae Slovenica, 118/1 – 2022 5 Seed longevity characteristics of tomato ... genotypes stored with different packaging materials under ambient tropical humid conditions Rate of germination as affected by genotype, pack- aging material and storage time are presented in Table 2. The result reviewed that ‘Alausa’ stored in galvanized iron tin had the highest viability of 85 % at zero day stor- age, but was not significantly different from ‘Tropimech’ stored in polyethylene bag, plastic bottle, glass bottle, and in galvanized iron tin and also ‘Roma VF’ stored in glass bottle. Whereas ‘Cobra F1’ stored in glass bottle and paper envelope had similar but the lowest viability rate of 13.3 at zero day of storage. At 60 days of storage, ‘Alausa’ stored in paper envelope had the highest viability rate of 90 % which was significantly different from the one stored in galvanized iron tin, ‘Tropimech’ stored in polyethylene bag, glass bottle, earthen pot. Whereas ‘Co- bra F1’ hybrid stored in earthen pot and galvanized iron tin had the lowest viability rate of 33 %. At 120 days of storage, ‘Alausa’ seeds stored in glass bottle had the high- est viability of 95 % which was not significantly different from the one stored in earthen pot and galvanized iron tin, also from ‘Roma VF’ stored in earthen pot and galva- nized iron tin, ‘Cobra F1’ hybrid seeds stored in earthen pot and galvanized iron tin, ‘Tropimech’ seeds stored in polyethylene bag. At 180 days of storage, ‘Alausa’ seeds stored in glass bottle had the highest viability rate of 93 % while ‘Tropimech’ seeds stored in glass bottle had the lowest rate of 70 % which was not significantly different from the one stored in polyethylene bag, plastic bottle and ‘Roma VF’ seeds stored in plastic bottle. After 240 days, the viability rate decreased across all genotypes and package materials which ‘Roma VF’ had the highest rate of 58 %. Genotypes Packaging material Storage time (days) 0 60 120 180 240 Roma VF Polyethylene Bag 58.3efgh 53.3ef 80.0bcd 91.6ab 28.3e Plastic Bottle 48.3hi 50.0ef 73.3d 80.0b-g 26.6e Glass Bottle 78.3abc 58.3e 80.0bc 90.0ab 50.0ab Paper Envelope 40.0ijk 78.3bcd 73.0d 88.3abc 30.0de Earthen Pot 63.0def 76.0bcd 86.0abc 76.0d 36.0c Galvanized Iron Tin 68.3cde 73.0cd 86.0abc 90.0ab 58.0a Cobra F1 Hybrid Polyethylene Bag 35.0jk 46.6fg 86.6ab 86.6abcd 21.6efg Plastic Bottle 30.0kl 43.3fgh 76.0cd 86.6abcd 18.3fg Glass Bottle 13.3m 58.3e 78.3bcd 78.3c 11.6g Paper Envelope 13.3m 36.6gh 83.0bcd 85.0abcd 21.0efg Earthen Pot 48.0hi 33.0h 85.0abcd 86.0abcd 25.0e Galvanized Iron Tin 23.0l 33.0h 86.0abc 83.0abcde 20.0efg Tropimech Polyethylene Bag 83.3a 81.6abcd 86.6abc 81.6b-g 58.3a Plastic Bottle 81.7a 70.0d 80.0bcd 80.0b-g 48.3ab Glass Bottle 83.3a 83.3abcd 78.3bcd 70.0g 53.3a Paper Envelope 73.3bcd 75.0bcd 81.0bcd 76.6d 40.0bcd Earthen Pot 53.0fg 85.0ab 80.0bcd 71.0f 40.0bcd Galvanized Iron Tin 83.0a 76.0bcd 76.0bcd 73.0e 53.0a Alausa Polyethylene Bag 46.7ij 76.6bcd 80.0bcd 81.6bcde 40.0cd Plastic Bottle 40.0ijk 76.6bcd 83.3bcd 90.0ab 13.3fg Glass Bottle 48.3hi 75.0bcd 95.0a 93.0a 28.3e Paper Envelope 40.0ijk 90.0a 78.0bcd 83.3a-e 23.0efg Earthen Pot 50.0ghi 78.0bcd 88.0ab 83.3a-e 21.0efg Galvanized Iron Tin 85.0a 83.0abc 86.0abc 86.0abcd 20.0efg Table 2: Influence of storage time and packaging material on rate of germination of four tomato genotypes Means followed by same alphabet along column are not different from each other at 5 % probability level according to Tukey’s HSD test at 5 % prob- ability level Acta agriculturae Slovenica, 118/1 – 20226 T. O. KEHINDE et al. Seedling length as affected by genotype, packaging material and storage time is revealed in Table 3. ‘Alausa’ seeds stored in galvanized iron tin had the highest value of 13.2 cm which was not significantly different from the one stored in paper envelope while ‘Tropimech’ seeds stored in plastic bottle had the lowest value of 7.4 cm. At 60 days of storage, ‘Alausa’ seeds stored in polyethylene bag had the highest value of 9.9 cm, which was statistical- ly similar to ‘Tropimech’ seeds stored in glass bottle while ‘Cobra F1’ hybrid seeds had the lowest value of 4.3 cm which was not significantly different from the one stored in galvanized iron tin. At 120 days of storage, seeds of ‘Alausa’ stored in polyethylene bag had the highest value while at 180 days ‘Alausa’ seeds stored in earthen and galvanized iron tin had similar and the highest seedling length for the storage time. After 240 days, ‘Tropimech’ seeds stored in plastic bottle had the highest value 11.6 cm which was not significantly different from ‘Roma VF’ seeds stored in earthen pot. Table 4 shows data on seed viability as affected by genotype, package material and storage time. Seed of ‘Alausa’ genotype stored in paper envelope had the high- est value of 95 % which was statistically similar to ‘Roma VF’ stored in polyethylene bag, plastic bottle, galvanized iron tin, ‘Cobra F1’ hybrid stored in polyethylene bag, plastic bottle, glass bottle, ‘Tropimech’ stored in poly- ethylene bag and galvanized iron tin and ‘Alausa’ seeds stored in galvanized iron tin. For 60 days of storage ‘Alausa’ stored in polyethylene bag had the highest value of 93 % which was statistically similar to the one stored in paper envelope and plastic bottle. ‘Tropimech’ stored in galvanized iron tin, glass bottle, paper envelope, ‘Co- Genotypes Packaging material Storage time (days) 0 60 120 180 240 Roma VF Polyethylene Bag 7.5ef 7.3bcd 12.9bcde 11.4gh 7.2hijk Plastic Bottle 8.9cde 5.4fgh 12.9bcde 13.3-e 6.9ijk Glass Bottle 9.6cd 7.7bc 12.6bcde 13.0a-f 9.6bcd Paper Envelope 9.2cd 6.2defg 13.4ab 13.7abc 9.3cde Earthen Pot 9.2cd 5.8efg 12.7bcde 11.3gh 10.9ab Galvanized Iron Tin 8.5def 7.2cde 9.6h 12.7a-g 9.7bcd Cobra F1 Hybrid Polyethylene Bag 8.6def 7.4bcd 12.6bcde 9.5i 4.9mn Plastic Bottle 9.4cd 5.3fgh 11.5cdefg 11.7f 5.6lmn Glass Bottle 8.5def 7.7bc 11.7cdefg 12.2defg 7.8f-j Paper Envelope 9.2cd 6.2defg 10.4gh 11.8fg 6.6jkl Earthen Pot 9.7cd 4.3h 13.1abc 12.1defg 9.1cdef Galvanized Iron Tin 10.1c 4.8gh 11.6defg 11.9efg 6.1jklm Tropimech Polyethylene Bag 9.2cd 6.7cdef 13.0bcd 10.2hi 8.3d-i Plastic Bottle 7.4f 6.6cdef 10.9f 12.5c-g 11.6a Glass Bottle 9.4cd 8.7ab 12.5bcde 12.6b-g 9.2cdef Paper Envelope 8.9cde 7.7bc 11.9cdef 13.1a-f 8.4defgh Earthen Pot 8.6def 6.6cdef 11.9cdef 12.2defg 10.1bc Galvanized Iron Tin 10.1c 6.4cdef 11.7c-g 12.2defg 8.8cdefg Alausa Polyethylene Bag 9.0cd 9.9a 14.5a 13.5abcd 4.3n Plastic Bottle 11.6b 6.7cdef 12.7bcde 11.3gh 7.4g-k Glass Bottle 9.7cd 6.9cde 12.8bcde 11.8fg 8.8defg Paper Envelope 12.9ab 6.5cdef 12.3b-f 14.0ab 8.1e-i Earthen Pot 8.8cdef 6.0defg 13.5ab 14.1a 5.5lmn Galvanized Iron Tin 13.2a 6.4cdef 12.8bcde 14.1a 6.0klm Table 3: Influence of storage time and packaging material on seedling length (cm) of four tomato genotypes Means followed by same alphabet along column are not different from each other at 5 % probability level according to Tukey’s HSD test at 5 % prob- ability level Acta agriculturae Slovenica, 118/1 – 2022 7 Seed longevity characteristics of tomato ... genotypes stored with different packaging materials under ambient tropical humid conditions bra F1’’ hybrid seeds in glass bottle, ‘Roma VF’’ stored in galvanized iron tin and glass bottle while ‘Cobra F1’ hybrid stored in earthen pot had the lowest viability of 60 %. At 120 days of storage, seeds of ‘Alausa’ stored in glass bottle had the highest viability rate from 120 days of storage to 240 days of storage with the value of 100, 98, 75 % respectively. Table 5 presents seedling vigour as affected by pack- aging material, genotype and storage time. At zero time of storage, ‘Alausa’ stored in paper envelope and galvanized iron tin had the highest value of 12.2 and 12.3 respec- tively, while the lowest value was recorded by the same genotype stored in earthen pot. At 60 days of storage, ‘Tropimech’ seeds stored in glass bottle had the highest seedling vigour, while at 120 days, ‘Alausa’ seeds stored in polyethylene bag had the highest value. ‘Cobra F1’ hy- brid stored in earthen pot and ‘Tropimech’ seeds stored in plastic bottle had the lowest value for 60 and 120 days of storage, respectively. For storage at 180 days, seeds of ‘Alausa’ stored in galvanized iron tin had the highest val- ue of 12.2 while the one stored in glass bottle for 240 days of storage also had the highest value for that storage time. ‘Alausa’ stored in earthen pot and galvanized iron tin had similar but the lowest value for 240 days of storage. Table 6 presents the results of probit analysis of seed viability data in four tomato genotypes and six pack- age materials over 240 days of storage. It is evident by the positive values of the intercept of all the treatments that the seeds maintained its viability, irrespective of the package materials, over 240 days of storage. ‘Roma VF’ seeds stored in glass bottle had the lowest rate of dete- rioration (-0.609), followed by ‘Tropimech’ seeds stored Genotypes Packaging material Storage time (days) 0 60 120 180 240 Roma VF Polyethylene Bag 93.0ab 71.0fg 88.0bcde 91.0abc 41.0g Plastic Bottle 88.0abcd 63.0h 73.0h 81.0b-f 53.0g Glass Bottle 88.0abcd 86.0abc 93.0abcde 92.0abc 63.0b-f Paper Envelope 73.0ef 78.0b-g 93.0bcde 86.0bcde 60.0cdef Earthen Pot 73.oef 72.0fg 88.0bcde 86.0bcde 55.0ef Galvanized Iron Tin 90abc 88.0ab 90.0a-f 92.0abc 67.0abcd Cobra F1 Hybrid Polyethylene Bag 85.0b 78.0bc 90.0a-f 91.0abc 53.0f Plastic Bottle 86.0ab 61.0h 86.0c-g 85.0bcde 63.0b-f Glass Bottle 85.0ab 86.0abc 85.0defg 83.0b-f 73.0ab Paper Envelope 78.0de 73.0ef 96.0abc 81.0b-f 71.0abc Earthen Pot 73.0e 60.0h 90.0a-f 90.0abc 60.0cdef Galvanized Iron Tin 85.0ab 60.0gh 95.0abcd 70.0g 55ef Tropimech Polyethylene Bag 90.0abc 75.0de 83.0efgh 85.0b-f 66.0a-e Plastic Bottle 83.0bcde 71.0f 80.0fgh 75.0efg 68.0abcd Glass Bottle 83.0bcde 85.0abcd 85.0defg 72.0fg 60.0cdef Paper Envelope 80.0cde 83.0abcde 91.0a-f 80.0c-g 58.0def Earthen Pot 65.0fg 77.0cd 83.0efg 70.0g 27.0h Galvanized Iron Tin 90.0abc 83.0abcde 78.0gh 88.0a-e 53.0f Alausa Polyethylene Bag 58.0g 76.0c-g 93.0a-e 78.0def 66.0a-e Plastic Bottle 61.0g 83.0a-e 83.0efg 83.0b-f 70.0abc Glass Bottle 58.0g 81.0b-f 100.0a 98.0a 75.0a Paper Envelope 95.0a 83.0a-e 90.0a-f 78.0def 62.0b-f Earthen Pot 56.0g 82.0b-f 90.0a-e 75.0ef 30.0gh Galvanized Iron Tin 93.0ab 93.0a 98.0ab 87.0bcd 28.0h Table 4: Influence of storage time and packaging material on seed viability of four tomato genotypes Means followed by same alphabet along column are not different from each other at 5 % probability level according to Tukey’s HSD test at 5 % prob- ability level 4 DISCUSSION Significant differences observed between the four genotypes of tomato for all the quality parameters sug- gest that there is an opportunity to select between the four genotypes for better performance. Similarly, sig- nificant difference observed among the six packaging Acta agriculturae Slovenica, 118/1 – 20228 T. O. KEHINDE et al. in glass bottle (-0.1826). ‘Cobra F1’ hybrid seeds stored in glass bottle recorded highest value in days to seed half-life (528.23) followed by ‘Roma VF’ stored in poly- ethylene bag with 410.7 days. On the other hand, ‘Cobra F1’ hybrid stored in paper envelope recorded the lowest half-life. Seeds of ‘Tropimech’ stored in plastic bottle had the highest time taken (793.4 days) to lose one probit vi- ability followed by ‘Cobra Fi’ hybrid seeds stored in paper envelope (691.3 days). However, ‘Alausa’’ seeds stored in galvanized iron tin had the lowest time taken (51.53) to lose one probit viability. Moreover, the highest seed storage life of 35.21 months was obtained by ‘Cobra F1’ hybrid seeds stored in glass bottle followed by ‘Tropimech’ stored in plastic bottle while ‘Cobra F1’ hybrid stored in paper envelope had the lowest storage life. Genotypes Packaging material Storage time (days) 0 60 120 180 240 Roma VF Polyethylene Bag 7.9bcd 5.2cdefg 11.5b-f 10.5bc 2.8fg Plastic Bottle 8.1bcd 3.3hi 9.3hij 10.9abc 3.8df Glass Bottle 8.5bc 6.7abc 11.7bcdef 11.9ab 6.1abc Paper Envelope 6.7defg 4.9defg 12.5abcd 11.8ab 5.7abc Earthen Pot 6.7defg 4.2ghi 11.2c-h 9.7cdef 5.1abc Galvanized Iron Tin 7.7bcde 6.3abcd 8.6j 11.7ab 6.4abc Cobra F1 Hybrid Polyethylene Bag 7.4cde 5.8bcdef 10.5e-i 8.7ef 2.8fg Plastic Bottle 8.2bc 3.3hi 10.0f-j 9.8cdef 3.5ef Glass Bottle 7.3cde 6.7abc 10.0f-j 10.0cde 5.7abc Paper Envelope 7.2cdef 4.5fgh 10.0f-j 9.6cdef 4.5cde Earthen Pot 7.1cdef 2.7i 11.7b-f 10.8abc 5.7abc Galvanized Iron Tin 8.6bc 3.2hi 11.0defg 8.3f 3.5ef Tropimech Polyethylene Bag 8.3bc 5.2cdefg 10.8efgh 10.0cd 5.6abc Plastic Bottle 6.2efgh 4.7efgh 8.8j 9.8cdef 6.5ab Glass Bottle 8.4bc 7.4a 10.4-i 8.9def 5.6abc Paper Envelope 7.2cdef 4.5fgh 10.0f-j 9.6cdef 4.5cde Earthen Pot 5.5gh 5.0defg 9.9g-j 8.5ef 2.8fg Galvanized Iron Tin 9.1b 5.4cdefg 9.2ij 10.8abc 4.8cde Alausa Polyethylene Bag 5.3gh 7.2ab 13.5a 10.8abc 2.9fg Plastic Bottle 7.1cdef 5.6c-g 11.2c-f 9.4cdef 5.3a-d Glass Bottle 5.7fgh 5.7b-g 12.8ab 11.6ab 6.7a Paper Envelope 12.2a 5.7b-g 11.1cdef 11.9ab 4.9cde Earthen Pot 4.9h 4.9defg 12.0abcde 10.6bc 1.7g Galvanized Iron Tin 12.3a 5.9a-f 12.6abc 12.2a 1.7g Table 5: Influence of storage time and packaging material on seedling vigour of four tomato genotypes Means followed by same alphabet along column are not different from each other at 5 % probability level according to Tukey’s HSD test at 5 % prob- ability level materials for rate of germination, seed viability, seedling length and seedling vigour revealed that there is possibil- ity for selecting among the six packaging materials that will give the best performance for the seed quality attrib- utes evaluated. Differences in all the seed quality param- eters during the storage period indicated that these seed quality parameters significantly varied with storage time. Acta agriculturae Slovenica, 118/1 – 2022 9 Seed longevity characteristics of tomato ... genotypes stored with different packaging materials under ambient tropical humid conditions Genotypes Packaging materials *Intercept **Slope ***Sigma *%P50 *#Seed storage life Roma VF Polyethylene bag 1.130 -0.006 322.00 410.70 27.40 Plastic bottle 0.944 -0.004 153.80 217.20 14.50 Glass bottle 1.615 -0.609 82.40 148.30 9.90 Paper envelope 0.986 -0.005 294.9 234.80 15.70 Earthen pot 0.881 -0.002 205.07 125.80 8.40 Galvanized iron tin 1.606 -0.005 189.33 298.80 19.90 Cobra F1 Hybrid Polyethylene bag 1.428 -0.006 616.67 326.93 21.80 Plastic bottle 0.960 -0.002 303.19 209.63 13.90 Glass bottle 1.316 -0.003 498.53 528.23 35.21 Paper envelope 0.906 -0.000 691.30 467.63 31.21 Earthen pot 0.633 0.000 280.80 45.97 3.10 Galvanized iron tin 1.230 -0.005 257.37 256.00 17.10 Tropimech Polyethylene bag 1.255 -0.004 240.07 303.93 20.30 Plastic bottle 1.026 -0.003 793.40 455.37 30.40 Glass bottle 1.467 -0.007 351.57 384.63 25.60 Paper envelope 1.319 -0.186 83.73 131.27 8.80 Earthen pot 1.062 -0.007 151.03 143.80 9.60 Galvanized iron tin 1.602 -0.007 335.53 385.85 25.70 Alausa Polyethylene bag 0.534 -0.001 571.60 344.47 22.90 Plastic bottle 0.594 -0.002 498.67 117.36 7.80 Glass bottle 0.750 -0.003 171.83 75.58 5.00 Paper envelope 2.030 -0.010 97.23 189.97 12.70 Earthen pot 0.928 -0.000 220.20 204.77 13.70 Galvanized iron tin 3.026 -0.020 51.53 147.18 9.80 Table 6: Probit analysis of the seed viability data in four tomato genotypes stored under six package materials over 240 days stor- age time *Intercept is PROBIT estimate of initial seed viability **slope is the rate of seed deterioration ***Sigma is time taken for seed lot to lose 1 probit viability *% P50 is seed half- life in days *# Seed storage life estimated as P50 value multiplied by 2 then divided by the 30 days of a month The significant effect of packaging materials and storage time for all the seed quality parameters except rate of germination implies that the differences record- ed for these two parameters were influenced by storage time. The significant genotype and packaging material effect indicated that rate of germination of the genotypes was influenced by packaging material investigated. This support earlier findings by Alegiledoye et al. (2018) and Kehinde et al. (2020) who reported influence of packag- ing material on seed quality of African yam beans and water melon respectively. Likewise, significant effect of genotype and storage time on all the seed quality parameters revealed that dif- ferences in these characters among the four genotypes were modulated by storage time examined. The signifi- cant effect of genotype, storage time and packaging mate- rial on rate of germination, seed viability, seedling length and seedling vigour revealed that the variation in these characters between the four genotypes was influenced by both the storage time and packaging material. Among the packaging materials, glass bottle gave the best performance in terms of all the seed quality param- Acta agriculturae Slovenica, 118/1 – 202210 T. O. KEHINDE et al. eters compared with the other five packaging materials and was also significant across the storage time. Kehinde et al. (2020) also identified glass bottle as the best storage container in maintaining seed quality of water melon out of three storage containers used in the study. The result also showed significant differences among the five stor- age times for rate of germination, seed viability, seedling length and seedling vigour. The seed quality sharply de- clined after 120 days of storage. It can be concluded that tomato seeds can be stored under ambient conditions for at least 120 days (4 months) before sowing and still retain good emergence and seedling vigour characters. The re- sult, however, revealed that seeds stored and sown at 240 days had significantly lower rate of germination and seed viability (32.8 and 57.5 %, respectively) and seedling vig- our of value (4.6). This indicates the superiority of seeds stored at other earlier storage time. Aliyu and Akintaro (2007) reported that water im- bibition in seeds stored for a longer time is associated with leakage of hydrolytes like sugars and amino acids, which often leads to disintegration of cell membrane and thus reduces the quantity of amino acids and peptides that are translocated to embryo axis and this in turns af- fect the rate of germination. In this study, it was observed that glass bottle gave significantly the highest values of viability compared to other packaging materials. It also had significantly high- er seedling vigour for the storage periods compared to other packaging materials. ‘Tropimech’ genotype had significantly higher seed viability across the six pack- aging materials compared to all other genotypes. Also, a sharp decline was observed in values recorded by the all the genotypes for all the seed quality parameters be- tween 180 and 240 days of storage periods which sug- gests that storage can further be encouraged up till 180 days of storage with a reasonable and moderate seedling performance compared to seeds stored for 240 days be- fore sowing. The packaging materials used in this study had sig- nificant effect on the quality of the seeds of tomato geno- types used. Glass bottle was the best packaging material used in this study. This finding conforms with expecta- tion as seeds stored in air tight containers maintain seed qualities longer than non-air tight packaging materials like envelopes which absorb moisture from the surround- ing atmosphere. This finding agrees with the report of Kumar and Singh (1983) that the seeds of sesame stored in glass bottles maintained satisfactory germination throughout storage period while seeds stored in gunny bags lost viability after six months of storage. Majhi and Bandopadhyay (1993) also reported that freshly har- vested groundnut seeds dried to moisture content of nine percent stored in glass bottles for one to nine (9) months had the highest seed viability, root and shoot length and seedling dry mass when compared to seed stored in pa- per and cloth bag. Earlier reports by Daniel (1997), Adebisi et al. (2004, 2008), Esuruoso (2010), Adebisi (2012), Oni (2012) and Adebisi et al. (2019) have utilized probit modelling to predict storage life of yam, soybean, kenaf, okra, sesa- me and pigeon pea, respectively under ambient storage conditions. In this study, the result of probit modelling showed that tomato seeds deteriorated at different rate, irrespective of the package material in which it is been stored for a period of 240 days. ‘Roma VF’ stored in glass bottle had the lowest rate of deterioration (-0.609) and the highest rate (3.1826) was recorded by ‘Tropimech’ stored in glass bottle. The highest estimate of tomato seed shelf-life was obtained with ‘Cobra F1’ hybrid stored in glass bottle with 35.2 months followed by ‘Tropimech’ stored in plastic bottle with 30.4 months while ‘Cobra F1’ hybrid stored in paper envelope gave the least storage life. However, the Probit modelling predicted that tomato seeds of ‘Cobra F1’ hybrid stored in glass bottle can be stored for an average of 35 months and still retain high viability characteristics under good storage conditions. 5 CONCLUSIONS Significant differences were observed in rate of ger- mination, seed viability, seedling length and seedling vigour of the four genotypes of tomato examined in this study. Genotype, storage time and packaging material in- fluenced all the seed quality parameters examined. Envelope and earthen pot are not ideal for tomato seed storage for long time, because seeds stored in air tight containers maintained desired seed quality than non- airtight packaging materials. Glass bottle was iden- tified as the best packaging material in maintaining seed quality of tomato throughout the storage period due to the fact that it withstood all environmental conditions compared to other packaging materials. The probit modelling result revealed that ‘Cobra F1’ hybrid tomato genotype stored in glass bottle had the highest seed storage life of 35.21 months. 6 RECOMMENDATIONS Tomato genotype, packaging material and storage period should be considered in maintenance of viabil- ity and seedling vigour in tomato preservation. Tomato seeds should be properly stored in the right packaging material for preservation of the seed vigour and for rap- id growth characters. Glass bottles are locally available 11 Seed longevity characteristics of tomato ... genotypes stored with different packaging materials under ambient tropical humid conditions Acta agriculturae Slovenica, 118/1 – 2022 at very low cost and peasant farmers can easily handle them, therefore these storage materials should be used for storing tomato seeds and can be adopted for other crop seeds. 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