Investigation on some dormancy breaking treatments on germination percentage and rate of seeds of Bunium persicum

Bunium persicum belongs to Apiaceae family and is an important medicinal plant. This biennial plant has vegetation growth in its first year and reproductive growth in the second year. The species is not cultivated due to dormancy difficulties and also overuse of natural habitat which has increased the risks of its extinction. This study was carried out to find the best methods of breaking seed dormancy and germination stimulation. Four treatments were used including a) Stratification for 0, 1, 2, 3 and 4 weeks, b) Gibberellic acid (GA3) with concentrations of 100,500 and 1000 ppm, c) Sulfuric acid for 1.5, 2.5 and 5 minutes, d) Salicylic acid (SA) with concentrations of 1, 1.5 and 5mM . The Results showed that stratification treatment after 23 days and Gibberellic acid by the concentration of 500 ppm were the most effective treatments in increasing seed germination. All three concentrations of Salicylic acid reduced germination, and using Sulfuric acid for 1.5 minutes had no significant effect on germination, while other 2 levels led to germination reduction.