Assessment of Germination of Plukenetia volubilis L. (SACHA INCHI)

Plukenetia volubilis L. is an Amazon species commonly known as sacha inchi, considered a high agro-industrial potential plant due to high nutritional values. Despite some published propagation studies of sacha inchi, to the best of our knowledge, there is little information about its dormancy especially in Malaysia. Thus, this study aimed to assess seed germination of sacha inchi. The germination test used four different treatments: acid scarification, mechanical scarification, an overnight soak in water, and hot water. Two different scarification methods were conducted using sulphuric acid with a concentration of 20% (98.08g/mol) and mechanical scarification using sandpaper (grade 80) sanding gently about 30 sec to 1 min. Hot water treatment was done by soaking the seeds in 82ºC of hot water until the temperature drops to room temperature and control treatment, an overnight soak in water. In this study, the best way to break the seed dormancy of Plukenetia volubilis L. was by using mechanical scarification (64% germinated seeds) to promote germination and considered a feasible method.