Seed quality

Galen, C. and Newport, M.E. (1988). Pollination quality, seed set and flower traits in Polemonium viscosum complementary effects of variation in flower scent and size. American Journal of Botany 75 900-905. 

Overcooking lowers the nutritional quality of the meal and darkens both the oil and the meal. Poor-quality seeds with high levels of free fatty acids cannot be cooked for as long a period as high-quality seeds because of darkening. Darker oil requires additional refining to achieve the desired bleach color. 

Cottonseed meats are usually kept in the stack vessel for 60-120 min and leave at a temperature of 110-132.2°C (230-270°F). Poor-quality seed is normally not cooked as long as good seed, because oil in poor-quahty seed darkens on prolonged cooking. The material first in is not always first out. This has been noted by Alderks (1) and can be demonstrated by adding com kernels, dyed flakes, or other easUy spotted additives to the feed. Some of the material leaves the cooker in less than the average residence time, some remains much longer. 

Seed Germination. Across the American cotton belt, cotton germinates under environmental stresses such as low soil temperature, moisture deficit or excess, oxygen deficits, and mineral extremes. Seed treatments to increase tolerance to early season stresses would be very beneficial. When large scale replanting depletes the best seed, lower quality seed must be used. So any treatment which would improve the performance of such seed, even under favorable environmental conditions, would be valuable. In the future, plant breeders may select breeding lines for... 

Kulik, M.M. R. W. Yaklich. Relationship of the appearance of soybean seeds ro seed-borne infection by Diaporthe phaseolorum var. sojae and other aspects of seed quality. Seed Sci. Technol. 1982, 10, 335-342. 

The requirements for Mo in cereal crops are low, and the Mo concentrations in the seeds of wheat, oats, and barley are low (see Chapter 5). Hence there is little danger of accumulation of Mo in cereal grains to an extent that would cause concern for the health of livestock. Consequently, S-Mo relationships in cereal crops are unlikely to cause concern for feed quality. Seed legumes such as soybeans, however, accu-... 

Forcella, F., Gesch, R.W. and Isbell, T.A., DOI 10.2135/cropsci 2004.0593, Crop Ecology, Management Quality, Seed Yield, Oil, and Fatty Acids of Cuphea in the Northwestern Corn Belt, USDA-ARS, North Central Soil Conservation Research Lab, Morris, MN, 2004. 

Srlvastava, 1978 Scott, 1978 Thomson, 1979 Malik, 1981 Parmar et al., 1981). There Is lot of scope for future work which might enable the seeds of doubtful quality to perform better besides Improving the performance of good quality seeds. 

Good quality seed should be used which will germinate quickly and evenly. It is also important that the crop is not checked to any extent, for instance, by lack of a plant food. A poor growing crop is far more vulnerable to pest attack than a quick growing crop. A top-dressing of nitrogen, just as a crop is being attacked, may sometimes help. Aphids are often more freqnently fonnd on thick, well-fertilised crops. 

The range of crops, often with autumn- and spring-sown varieties, offers an option for most soil types, pH and crop rotations. Seasonal weather may adversely influence crop establishment, harvesting and sample quality. Home-saved seed has been an option for some of the crops but with specific quality requirements for the harvested product, and a trend to lower seed rates/plant populations, high quality seed with an appropriate treatment is advisable. 

The functional food concept based on stearidonic acid is relevant due to the common use of blackcurrant seed oil (Ribes nigrum) and some other food-quality seed oils. Novel plant-breeding and development techniques should make it possible to produce oils with selected composition such as a canola oil with a high content of selected fatty acids (Kabakibi et al., 2001), but only when we know what we want. 

In order to breed pennycress into a readily cultivated crop plant, several agronomic problems including seed dormancy, oil quality, seed glucosinolates. 

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