| description abstract | Cucumber is widely cultivated worldwide, occupying significant
agricultural acreage. The present research aims to evaluate the seed
priming potential of Vegetal Protein Hydrolysate (VPH) to improve
early seedling growth and seed germination of cucumber. We assessed
two concentrations of VPH (2 and 4 mL L-1) under normal and salt
stress conditions, with water as the control treatment. The
experiment was conducted in a completely randomized factorial
design. The cucumber seeds were primed for 4, 8, and 12 h, followed by
observing seed germination traits, including germination rate index,
mean germination time, germination percentage, vigorous index-2, and
early seedling growth traits. Based on the results, VPH treatments with
low concertation significantly affected morphological traits in
cucumber seed germination. We found the apparent priming potential
of VPH to improve early seedling growth and seed germination in
cucumbers with different morphological features. Seed priming with
VPH significantly improved germination traits and chlorophyll in salt
stress conditions compared to the control treatment. The results
showed that the seed germination was affected by priming durations of
4 and 8 h. However, the extended exposure to the same concentration
(12 h) inhibited the seed germination process, thereby inducing a
higher level of stress intensity in the seedlings. Thus, VPH seed priming
can be regarded as a bio-stimulant for enhancing early seedling growth
and seed germination in cucumbers. These results can assist in
preparing vegetal protein-based compounds and improve vegetable
production in greenhouses and plastic tunnels. | en_US |
