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Acta Prataculturae Sinica ›› 2026, Vol. 35 ›› Issue (10): 129-143.DOI: 10.11686/cyxb2025515

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Methods for breaking seed dormancy in Jerusalem artichoke

Ming-xu DAI(), Guo-yin ZHANG, Zheng-jiang WU, Yi-hao DING, Lei ZHU, Zhen YANG, Su-lyu MENG, Zi-han HE, Hui-xia LIU()   

  1. School of Life Sciences and Engineering,Northwest Minzu University,Lanzhou 730030,China
  • Received:2025-12-18 Revised:2026-01-26 Online:2026-10-20 Published:2026-09-09
  • Contact: Hui-xia LIU

Abstract:

The aim of this work was to investigate methods for breaking seed dormancy in Jerusalem artichoke (Helianthus tuberosus). Seeds of Jerusalem artichoke were left intact or dehulled, and then germinated at 25 ℃ on paper after imbibing for various lengths of time (1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 h) in solutions containing different concentrations (0, 100, 200, 300 mg·L?1) of ethephon (ETH), indole-3-acetic acid (IAA), α-naphthylacetic acid (NAA), or gibberellin (GA3). The overall goal was to identify the optimal conditions for breaking seed dormancy. Seed dehulling was found to be crucial for breaking dormancy. Treatment with both IAA and NAA inhibited seed germination, whereas treatment with GA? had no effect on intact seeds. Dehulled seeds exhibited a dose-dependent response to GA3 in terms of germination percentage, which initially increased and then decreased as the GA3 concentration increased. The peak germination percentage (43%) was achieved by imbibing dehulled seeds in GA3 at 200 mg·L-1, but this percentage was too low for production. Imbibing in ETH (100-300 mg·L-1) promoted germination of both intact and dehulled seeds, with the latter showing final germination percentages of 56.67% to 63.33%. The root length of Jerusalem artichoke seedlings also showed a dose-response relationship with ETH, increasing initially and then decreasing as the ETH concentration increased. The method of dehulling seeds combined with imbibing in an ETH solution was further optimized to break seed dormancy. Imbibing dehulled seeds in ETH advanced the initial germination time by 1 day and significantly increased all germination indexes (P<0.05). The ETH concentration had a significant effect on the germination index of dehulled Jerusalem artichoke seeds, with the index gradually increasing as the ETH concentration increased. The imbibition time had a greater impact on germination potential, which initially increased and then decreased with prolonged imbibition time. The optimal treatment was imbibing dehulled seeds in ETH at 100-200 mg·L-1 for 3-4 hours; this yielded a cumulative germination potential of >70% and a germination rate of >78%. Among all treatments, imbibing dehulled seeds in ETH at 100 mg·L?1 for 3 hours yielded the highest final germination rate of 81.67%. The optimal imbibition time in terms of root and shoot lengths was 3-4 h, although imbibition time did not affect bud length. The results indicate that seed dormancy in Jerusalem artichoke is controlled physically by the seed coat and physiologically by the balance of growth regulators in the seed coat and the seeds themselves. Under these conditions, the optimal treatment for breaking the seed dormancy of Jerusalem artichoke was dehulling combined with imbibing in ETH solution (100-200 mg·L?1) for 3-4 hours.

Key words: Jerusalem artichoke seeds, plant growth regulators, dormancy break, germination index, growth index