| Summary: | Seeds of some winged bean varieties have low germination due to the presence of water-impermeable hardseeds. Seeds of ‘Taitung No.1’ winged bean had only 31% germination because the remaining 69% of seeds had a water-impermeable seedcoat. Sandpaper abrasion and sulfuric acid immersion for 15 and 25 min effectively removed hardseededness of the seeds, resulting in more than 89% germination. As seed moisture content (MC) decreased from 14.8% to 7%, the percentage of seeds with a water-impermeable seedcoat increased. Seed lots with 14.8%, 11%, 9%, and 7% MC had 7%, 38%, 56%, and 78% of hardseeds, respectively, on day 7 in the germination test. It was found that the hilum was responsible for water loss from the whole seed, and the seedcoats began to become water-impermeable at 12% MC. The lens and micropylar regions were initial water entry sites in the Vaseline-blocking experiment.
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