Study of the Effects of Pretreatments on Seed Germination of the Medicinal Plant Portulaca oleracea L.

In order to improve the germination rate and percentage of Portulaca oleracea L.,vinegar,glucose,gibberellin,KNO3 and hot water were used to pretreat its seeds.Appropriate gradients were selected for each condition.The pretreated seeds were then transferred into a germination medium.Numbers of germinated seeds were recorded every 12 hours for 10 days.The results showed that 2.5% vinegar,1% glucose,100 mg/L gibberellin,2% KNO3,or 40 ℃ hot water improved the germinatiopn rate and the final germination percentage of P.oleracea L..The best pretreatments were 40 ℃ hot water and 2.5% vinegar.The functional mechanism of vinegar on the seeds of P.oleracea L.was different from that of commonly used acids,which may be associated with some specific components of vinegar.