Importance of seed quality for the fresh cut chain

L.C. Deleuran, M.H. Olesen, N. Shetty, R. Gislum, B. Boelt
Seed is the most fundamental input in vegetable production on which the effectiveness of other inputs and outputs depends. If the seed is of poor quality, the use of other inputs is less successful and will occasionally be irrelevant. A definition of seed quality will depend upon the use for which the seed is intended. Viability, vigor, uniformity, purity and health of the seeds are quality parameters important for all production systems. The ideal situation for both fresh produce and fresh cut would be seeds that germinate uniformly at a high percentage and subsequently grow relatively fast to the desired size, thus, resulting in leaves of improved quality. It is likely that such leaves will be more able to withstand the rigorous processing that includes harvest, transportation, washing, sanitization, de-watering and packaging. This ideal situation would both be determined by the mentioned properties of the seeds and to a large extend the cultivar of the seeds. The quality of a vegetable product is defined by the interaction of these factors, including environmental factors as well as by management and technology. Novel, fast and non-destructive technologies for seed testing allow for new sorting possibilities of a seed lot. At present, new initiatives using multispectral imaging and single seed NIR spectroscopy is being developed at AU for description of seed lots. Preliminary results on investigations of pak choi seeds are presented.
Deleuran, L.C., Olesen, M.H., Shetty, N., Gislum, R. and Boelt, B. (2018). Importance of seed quality for the fresh cut chain. Acta Hortic. 1209, 35-40
DOI: 10.17660/ActaHortic.2018.1209.5
https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2018.1209.5
ECA classification, image analysis, NIR spectroscopy, pak choi seed, spinach seed
English

Acta Horticulturae