TITLE:
Effects of Different Treatments on Seed Germination and Improvement of Vitellaria paradoxa
AUTHORS:
A. Muhammad, S. Sale, Z. A. Abubakar, A. I. Abubakar, A. Babale, A. Bappi
KEYWORDS:
Vitellaria paradoxa, Germination, Seeds Treatment, Regeneration
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Applied Sciences,
Vol.10 No.5,
May
13,
2020
ABSTRACT: Shea butter (Vitellaria paradoxa) tree is one of the most
important tree species in Africa owing to its high potential in reduction of
poverty and hunger in rural areas and enhancing environmental sustainability.
All parts of shea tree are important from bark to wood and from leaves to
fruits. Despite all the uses and many more, shea is amongst the endangered
species of trees because of over-utilization, low regeneration abilities and
lack of efficient propagation methods. Consequently, this research seeks to
determine the most efficient methods for propagating V. paradoxa. The experiment
consists of three
stages. In the first stage, complete fruits were planted without depulping; in
the second experiment, the seeds were exposed to single seed treatments that were applied to the seeds and in the third experiment, the seeds were exposed to double seed treatments. It was observed that intact fruits did not germinate while the results showed the single seeds treatment to significantly have affected germination
performance. De-shelled seeds germinated faster (43 days) than all other treatments but 48 hours soaking produced the highest
germination percentage (91.7%). An
even better result was recorded with double seeds treatments in which de-shelled plus 24 hours soaked
seed germinated faster (39.3 days) than other treatments while sandpapered plus
24 hours soaked seeds had the best germination percentage (75%). Therefore,
scarification using sandpaper plus soaking for 24 hours was identified as the
best treatment for breaking seed dormancy in V. paradoxa.