The production of sweet (su) and super sweet corns (sh2) has been economically feasible in Korea in recent years. Major factors limiting super sweet corn production are low germination and low seedling vigor. Since seed quality is closely related to seed maturity, the optimum harvest time for the seed production of sweet and super sweet corns was studied and the quality of seeds with varying maturities was investigated in 2001 and 2002 cropping seasons. The parents of the sweet corn seeds were Hybrid Early Sunglow and 'Golden Cross Bantam 70' and those of super sweet corn were Xtrasweet 82 and 'For­tune'. Seeds were harvested at 21, 28, 35, 42, 49, and 56 days after silking (DAS). As the seeds developed, seed weight of sweet corn increased and the seed moisture content decreased faster than that of super sweet corn. Germination rates of sweet corn seeds harvested 21 and 28 DAS at 25~circC and emergence rates in the cold soil test were significantly lower than those of seeds harvested after 42 DAS in both years. Although the germination rates of super sweet corn seeds with varying maturities showed similar patterns as sweet corn seeds at 25~circC , the emergence rate of super sweet corn seeds in cold soil test continuously increased with seed maturity. This suggests that seed quality of super sweet corn should be tested in a cold soil test to estimate field emergence. As the seeds developed, leakage of total sugars and electrolytes from the both sweet and super sweet corn seeds decreased up to 42 or 49 DAS. The α-amylase activities of both sweet and super sweet corn seeds increased with seed maturity from 21 to 35 or 49 DAS depending on genotype and year. The optimum harvest time for the seed production of sweet corn was 42 DAS and 49 DAS for super sweet corn considering emergence rate and plumule dry weight in the cold soil test, leakage of sugars and electrolytes from the seeds, and α-amylase activity.

The responses of soybean seeds were evaluated to accelerated aging and gamma irradiation with regard to germination, seed leakage, seed leachate component and dry weight of hypocotyl and primary root of the germinating seed. Accelerated aging significantly reduced the final germination rate while gamma irradiation increased the final germination rate. Furthermore, the interactive effects occurred that the final germination rate of 5-day aged seeds increased considerably in response to 4 Gy of gamma irradiation. The extent to which the electrolyte was leaked from the seeds (conductivity) was significantly affected by accelerated aging and showed a close negative correlation with the germination rate. Gamma irradiation, however, did not significantly affect the electrical conductivity of seed leachate. The accelerated aging significantly increased the concentrations of the particular electrolytes leaked from the seeds while the gamma irradiation did not affect those concentrations. Of the electrolytes leaked from the seeds, Ca and Mg showed relatively lower concentrations while K showed greater concentrations than others. Moreover, N and P showed similar responses to aging treatment. Aging treatment significantly affected dry weight (DW) of hypocotyls and primary root. Also, gamma irradiation decreased DW of hypocotyls and primary root, particularly for 8 Gy associated with 5 days aging treatment. The data were discussed in terms of the relationships of seed vigor with aging treatment and gamma irradiation.

The objective of this study was to demonstrate whether or not the deleterious effects of accelerated aging on seed vigour and viability are alleviated by interaction with gamma irradiation. Seeds of soybean (Glycine max L.) were artificially aged and subsequently irradiated with 4 and 8 Gy of gamma irradiation. Germination rate was negatively affected by accelerated aging and positively by gamma irradiation, with a positive interaction of a 3day-seed aging treatment occurring with 4 Gy, possibly suggesting that 4 Gy of gamma irradiation partially offset the adverse effects of seed aging on germination. However, 5-day aged seeds did not gain any benefits from the gamma irradiation. Electrolyte leakage from the seeds increased with the duration in days aged. Irradiation, however, did not impose any effects on the leakage. Respiration rate of the seed with hypocotyl and primary root was significantly low for the aged seeds, but not for the seeds with both irradiation and aging treatments. Accelerated aging decreased the dry weight of the hypocotyl and primary root of the seeds without any measurable effects of irradiation. α -Amylase activity decreased with seed aging and positively responded to gamma irradiation. The data is discussed with regard to the possible roles of gamma irradiation for improving the seed vigour and viability of aged seeds.