FREE-RADICAL ACTIVITY AND LOSS OF VIABILITY DURING DRYING OF DESICCATION-SENSITIVE TREE SEEDS

Viability loss during desiccation in the recalcitrant seeds of Castane a saliva, Aesculus hippocastanum and Quercus robur was accompanied by increased lipid peroxidation and build up of a stable free radical wit hin their embryonic axes. We argue that the accumulation of the free r adical marks the termination of a series of destructive events followi ng the initiation of oxidative attack during moisture stress in recalc itrant seeds.