Leakage of Reducing Sugards and Amino Acids During Cotton (Gossypium hirsutum) Seed Imbibation

Leakage of reducing sugars and amino acids during cotton seed imbibition was evaluated as a possible vigor test. Seed samples from a single cotton seed lot were subjected to accelerated aging at 460C and 100% R.H. for up to 216 hours.Aged seeds were imbibed at optimal and suboptimal temperatures, and the leakage of total reducing sugars and amino acids into the imbibition solution was quantified spectrophotometrically. Leakage of seed reserves was positively correlated with the duration of accelerated aging, in terms of subsequent germination performance at 300C and of similar quantity at both imbibition temperatures.