SUGAR LEAKAGE FROM AGED LEEK, ONION, AND CABBAGE SEEDS

The purpose of this study was to investigate leakage of sugars from no n-aged and aged (non-germinable) seeds of leek, onion, and cabbage. Th e sugar content of dry seeds was relatively unchanged by seed aging, w hile the percentage of total sugars in the leachate after a 24 hour so ak increased as seed germinability declined in all seeds. Glucose, fru ctose, sucrose and stachyose were detected in leachate from non-germin able treatments of all seeds, while raffinose was found in detectable quantities in leek and cabbage only. The leakage rate and the amount o f total sugars that leaked from non-germinable treatments was greatest for cabbage followed by leek and onion (35, 12, and 5 mg/g seed, resp ectively), while non-aged seeds of all three lots leaked <2 mg/g seed. The percentage of glucose to total sugars compared to sucrose from th e non-germinable seed leachate was highest for cabbage and lowest for onion. From these results, a rapid seed quality test to measure seed g erminability could be developed based on leakage of sugars. However, t here were qualitative and quantitative differences in leaked sugars fr om each seed lot, and additional effort is needed to standardize a pro cedure for each species.