Effects of Ozone Treatments on in vitro Seed Germination of Ruscus aculeatus, Ruscus hypoglossum and Danae racemosa

Ruscus aculeatus, Ruscus hypoglossum, and Danae racemosa are cut foliage and valuable for ornamental plants; they are also very valuable in terms of their medicinal aromatic properties. Propagating these plants using their seeds is very challenging due to deep dormancy and required pre-treatments before sowing. Ozone is a colorless gas with a pungent odor, made up of three oxygen atoms, and it offers an eco-friendly solution to break dormancy in seeds. In this study, stored seeds for four years were treated to ozone gas for 0, 15, and 30 minutes using an ozone generator that has the capacity to produce 6 grams of ozone per hour. Then, the seeds were cultured in Petri dishes containing Murashige and Skoog medium without plant growth regulators. In vitro seed germination rates were recorded 30, 40, 50, and 60 days after culture initiation. According to statistical analysis, the effects of species, duration of ozone treatments, and interaction of species and duration of ozone treatments on in vitro germination rates of seeds were statistically significant. The highest in vitro germination rates of 42%, 28%, and 24% were recorded at 30 min ozone treatment in R. aculeatus, R. hypoglossum, and D. racemosa, respectively. These results indicate that ozone application positively affects the germination of seeds.