Here we report radiocarbon measurements made on wheat seed tissue (Triticum aestivum L.; winter or spring type growth habit), from the seed archive of the IPK Gatersleben, Sachsen-Anhalt, Germany, which was harvested between 1946 and 2020. The results give an overview of 75 years of radiocarbon concentration evolution in agricultural plant products. The wheat tissue radiocarbon concentrations follow known pre- and post-bomb radiocarbon records, such as the atmospheric Jungfraujoch, Schauinsland, and NH1 datasets. Based on a Northern Hemisphere growing period from April to July, the Gatersleben seed tissue radiocarbon concentration indicates incorporation of fossil carbon of about 1% with respect to the high alpine, clean-air CO2 of the Jungfraujoch station between 1987 and 2019. We propose to use the pre- and post-bomb radiocarbon record of Gatersleben wheat as a reference in forensic investigations, such as the age estimation of paper by analyzing starch used in paper manufacture. Additionally, an advantage of the record reported here lies in its extensibility by adding new analyses from future harvests.

The loss of percentage germination and vigour of non-sprouted and sprouted seeds of winter wheat was determined during storage for 80 days at 11 different combinations of moisture content and temperature. Before storage the initial percentage germination and vigour were reduced according to the level of sprouting. During storage the percentage germination and vigour decreased. The rate of germination loss increased with increasing seed moisture content and/or increasing temperature. The species-specific constants KE, CW, CH and CQ of the viability equation were not different for non-sprouted and sprouted seeds. Likewise, the relation between the percentage of normal and abnormal seedlings was independent of sprouting. The rate of vigour loss was also independent of the storage conditions and of sprouting.