Preliminary evidence of an association between oxidation during long-term peanut germplasm storage and impaired seedling emergence and growth

Abstract Long-term storage of germplasm seeds can lead to physical, physiological, and biochemical changes, potentially affecting seed germinability and seedling growth. Previously, we identified that long-term stored peanut seeds contain significantly higher levels of epoxidation products (epoxystearic, coronaric, and vernolic acids) than freshly harvested seeds; however, potential relationships between these accumulated products and seed vigor in peanut remain largely unexplored. Here, we investigated the associations of these biochemical changes following long-term storage with seedling emergence and growth. Through pairwise comparisons of long-term stored (from 7 to 40 years) and recently regenerated seeds from 179 germplasm accessions, we identified a strong positive relationship between epoxidation product accumulation and seed storage time. In parallel, emergence from long-term stored seeds was significantly lower than from those recently regenerated. Furthermore, seedlings from long-term stored seeds had a higher proportion with abnormal growth and low vigor, producing on average seedling fresh and dry weights that were 2.5- and 2.9-times less than those from regenerated seeds. Our results provide preliminary evidence of an association between accumulated oxidation products and decreased seedling emergence and vigor in peanut germplasm seeds, indicating potentially valuable biochemical metrics for assessing seed viability and optimizing peanut germplasm conservation.