JPH0556707A - Method for preserving gel-coated seed - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To preserve the title seeds for a long period of time by coating seeds of an aqueous gel containing a water absorbing polymer and drying and to handle gel-coated seeds in the same way as that of common gel-coated seeds by immersing the seeds in water and rapidly reconstituting the seeds in the original state. CONSTITUTION:Seeds are coated with an aqueous gel containing a water absorbing gel (e.g. starch-acrylic acid graft copolymer) and the gel-coated seeds are dried. To be concrete, the seeds are coated with an aqueous solution of an alkali salt of the aqueous gel containing the water absorbing polymer, the coating layer is reacted with an aqueous solution of bivalent or trivalent metallic salt and inactivated, then the seeds are dried by forced air at 5-50 deg.C for 1-20 hours. An aqueous solution of sodium alginate is preferable as the aqueous solution of the alkali salt of aqueous gel.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a method for storing gel-coated seeds.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, as a method for preserving seeds, a method of storing at low temperature, in a dry state, or a combination of both is known. The gel-coated seed has an effect of facilitating seed sowing and promoting budding, and an application (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 63-500911) of Plant Genetics, Inc., etc. has been made, but these techniques are used. Then, it was necessary to continuously perform from the coating process to the sowing. For storage, a method of keeping it at a low temperature of about several degrees Celsius is conceivable, but even with this method, the germination process of seeds could not be completely suppressed, and it was difficult to store it for a long period of more than one month. On the other hand, a method of drying the gel-coated seeds can be considered, but it was difficult to make the once dried gel-coated seeds absorb water again and return it to its original state.

[0003]

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and even once dried gel-coated seeds can easily absorb water and return to their original state, An object is to provide a method for storing gel-coated seeds.

[0004]

In order to achieve the above object, the method for preserving gel-coated seeds of the present invention comprises, as described in claim 1, coating seeds with an aqueous gel containing a water-absorbing polymer. The gel-coated seeds are dried. The gel-coated seeds according to the present invention are prepared by coating plant seeds of spinach, radish, onion, etc. with a coating agent obtained by adding a water-absorbing polymer to an aqueous solution of an alkaline salt of an aqueous gel, and then ventilating the gel-coated seeds. It is performed by drying by a method such as drying.

As an aqueous solution of an alkaline salt of an aqueous gel, an aqueous solution of sodium alginate, sodium polyacrylate, sodium carboxymethylcellulose, sodium starch phosphate, casein sodium, etc.,
An aqueous solution of sodium alginate is preferably used. Examples of the water-absorbing polymer include starch-acrylic acid graft copolymer, starch acrylonitrile, polyacrylic acid salt-based, isobutylene-maleic acid copolymer-based system, and saponified vinyl acetate acrylic acid ester copolymer.

The concentration of the aqueous alkaline salt solution of the aqueous gel is preferably 0.1 to 10%, more preferably 1 to 5% from the viewpoint of coating processability. In addition, the amount of the water-absorbent polymer added to the water-based gel is 1 to 1 by weight in terms of the coating processability and the water-absorbing property.
A range of 0% is suitable. Addition amount (number) of seeds to aqueous alkaline salt solution of water-soluble gel containing water-absorbent polymer
Is appropriately selected so that the thickness of the gel coating layer is 7 to 15 mm.

The gel coating of seeds is carried out by coating the seeds with an aqueous alkaline salt solution of an aqueous gel containing the above water-absorbing polymer, and then divalent or trivalent metal salt aqueous solution (Ca, M).
g, Ba, etc. chloride solution) to insolubilize the coating layer, and this is dried by ventilation at 5 to 50 ° C. for 1 to 20 hours.

The dried gel-coated seeds are stored in a low temperature dry state. At the time of sowing, the dried gel-coated seeds are immersed in water for a few minutes to a few hours. As a result, the gel-coated seed rapidly absorbs water and returns to its original size and shape, and thereafter, it can be handled in the same manner as a normal gel-coated seed.

[0009]

Since the gel-coated seeds of the present invention are dried, they can be stored for a long period of time, easily transported and easily handled. Also, because it contains a water-absorbing polymer,
When soaked in water, it absorbs water quickly and returns to its original state, so that it can be sown in the same manner as ordinary gel-coated seeds.

[0010]

EXAMPLE A starch-acrylic acid graft copolymer as a water-absorbing polymer was added to a 2% sodium alginate aqueous solution, and the amounts of the water-absorbing polymer added to sodium alginate were adjusted to 2.5, 5, 10 and 15%, respectively. Chinese cabbage seeds were coated with a gel coater (JP-A-63-313504) using an aqueous solution as a coating agent. The amount of seeds was set to about 800 per 1000 ml of the coating agent.

The processed gel-coated seed was dried by ventilation at 20 ° C. for 12 hours. After 12 hours, the water content was almost 0%. The dried gel-coated seeds were placed in a sealed container (desiccator) and kept at a relative humidity of 30%. After 30 days, the gel-coated seeds in the desiccator were taken out, immersed in distilled water, and taken out after about 3 hours. The size and shape of the gel-coated seeds taken out were almost the same as before drying.
Further, when the gel-coated seeds were subjected to a germination test, they all showed a germination rate (85 to 90%) that was almost the same as that before drying.

Table 1 shows the results of studying the processing suitability of the gel-coated seeds depending on the amount of the water-absorbing polymer added.

[Table 1] As is clear from Table 1, the amount of the water-absorbent polymer added to the water-based gel was 2.
A range of 5 to 10%, particularly 2.5 to 5% is suitable.

[0013]

As described above, according to the present invention,
The gel-coated seeds can be stored at low temperature and dry condition for a long time, and therefore they are easy to transport, and when they are soaked in water, they absorb water easily and return to their original state. can do.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A method for storing a gel-coated seed, which comprises coating the seed with an aqueous gel containing a water-absorbent polymer and drying the gel-coated seed.