Monitoring of germination performance of Allium roseum L. seeds collected from Southern of Tunisia

Allium roseum (Amaryllidaceae Family) is an important medicinal and aromatic plant grows in the south-East of Tunisia and is used by local consumers as a vegetable, spice, and herbal remedy. This study has aimed to evaluate the process of maturation and germination of A. roseum seeds. A periodic monitoring of the germination test was conducted in the seed bank of Arid Regions Institute to evaluate the effect of temperature on seeds characteristics of Freshly seeds were stored for 0 days to165 days in the seed bank of the Laboratory of Pastoral Ecosystems and Valorization of Spontaneous Plants and Microorganisms. The monitoring of germination of the seeds maintained at 30% humidity and 20 °C was evaluated. Five characteristics of seed germination were determined: (FGP): final germination percentage (TFG): Time to first germination, (TGF): Time to final germination, (GD): Germination display and (MTG): mean time to germination. The study revealed that at the time of maturity the freshly seeds of A. roseum have a rest period that extends to the 7th days after collection. Seeds incubated at 15°C in darkness increased with age of seeds, maximum germination rates were reached when seeds were 41 to 165 days old. Thus, the age of seeds would significantly affect all the characteristics of germination. However, for seeds storage at 20°C and 30% humidity for 5 and half months appears to be optimum to keeping higher percentages of germination of this species.