Hello,
In order to put rose embryos in vitro (artificial medium) I’m looking for a protocol that can soften the seed coat without harming the embryo (after removal of the seed coat we can avoid dormancy problems caused by it). Has anyone had any experience so far in applying ethanol, hot water, acids for this purpose?
Greetings, G.
Oxyclean seems to encourage the splitting of the seed coat for me.
There was a study which softened rose seed coats by putting the seeds (achenes) into hydrochloric acid for two hours. They found that softening the seed coat with acid wasn’t enough to make the embryos start to grow; they had to completely remove the pericarp and testa. Softening the seed coat with acid made it easier to remove. Here is a link to the abstract. You’ll have to read the full paper to get the details. Oxyclean is no doubt safer to work with.