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Theoretical basis of protocols for seed storage II. The influence of temperature on optimal moisture levels

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 September 2008

Christina W. Vertucci  and
Eric E. Roos
Christina W. Vertucci*
Affiliation:
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, National Seed Storage Laboratory, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA
Eric E. Roos
Affiliation:
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, National Seed Storage Laboratory, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA
*
* Correspondence
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Abstract

The premise of this paper is that the chemical potential of water strongly influences aging reactions in seeds, and that there will be an optimal chemical potential of water for seed longevity. If this is true, the optimum moisture content for storage and the optimal drying protocols should vary with the storage temperature, but should be predictable from water sorption isotherms. Isotherms for pea, soybean and peanut are given for temperatures between 65° and −150°C. Relative humidity/moisture content relationships were determined directly for temperatures between 5° and 50°C using saturated salt solutions. At extreme temperatures, isotherms were calculated from heat capacity measurements using differential scanning calorimetry or extrapolations of van't Hoff analyses. The family of isotherms was used to predict optimum moisture contents at storage temperatures between 65°C and −150°C. The optimal moisture contents for these three species are consistently shown to increase as the storage temperature is lowered.

Keywords

seed storageseed agingultradrymoisture contenttemperaturemoisture isothermsheat capacitydifferential scanning calorimetryrelative humiditydesiccation damagebound waterintermediate storage behaviourcryopreservation
Type
Research Papers
Information
Seed Science Research , Volume 3 , Issue 3 , September 1993 , pp. 201 - 213
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1993

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