Using Extreme Physical Impacts to Study Properties of Hard Seeds of Legume Plants

Abstract

Different physical impacts are used to overcome the hard-seededness of legumes. The germination of yellow melilot and meadow clover seeds is shown to grow after cryotreatment. In licorice and astragalus, germination increases only after treating their seeds with hydrostatic pressure. It is assumed that liquid oxygen stimulates the development of yellow melilot seedlings. The origin of licorice seeds is found to affect their deformation: resistance to deformation (hardening) is determined by the seed coat (in arid areas) or by cotyledons (if excess moisture).