Quality improvement of aged cabbage (Brassica oleracea var. capitata) seeds using chlorophyll fluorescence sensor

Abstract Fourteen old seeds of cabbage ( Brassica oleracea var. capitata ) were sorted on the basis of chlorophyll fluorescence (CF) signal. Seed fractions of 54.3% and 45.7% with low CF and high CF, respectively, were obtained. Unsorted seeds were considered as controls. The effects of CF sensor based sorting on quality parameters of aged cabbage seeds were examined. It was observed that the seeds with low CF resulted in significantly higher germination, vigour and germination rate over unsorted fraction. However, no significant differences were noticed in ethanol produced (μg/l) at 40 °C in unsorted, low and high CF seeds. Significantly less numbers of hard seeds were noticed in seeds with low CF, whereas numbers of abnormal seedlings and dead seeds were found at par with unsorted seeds. Numerically higher values over unsorted seeds for fresh weight, dry weight, root and total seedlings length were found in seed fraction with low CF. The sorting improved the germination of aged cabbage seeds by 16%. Therefore, this method of quality up-gradation could be used to obtain a better quality seeds even from the lots which otherwise become substandard during storage. The technique could also be commercially exploited for sorting seeds and upgrading the quality of all those crop seeds where chlorophyll is present in the seed coat and persist during storage.