Abstract
This study deals with the germination of carob (Ceratonia siliqua L.) seeds by using different treatments such as, distilled water, different degrees of temperature, boiling distilled water and different sulphuric acid concentrations. Carob seeds soaked in distilled water for 4 days gave a percentage of germination 11.6%. Temperature at (5°C) decreased the percentage of germination to (5.7%) at light. However, gradual increase in temperature 15, 20, 25, 30 & 35°C increased the percentage of germination into 60%, 65%, 75%, 78% and 88% respectively, since high temperature aid in breaking dawn the seed coat which in turn permits flow of water and gases into seed embryo. Carob seeds were also treated with boiled water (100°C) for one complete day and the percentage of germination obtained was 82%. However, carob seeds treated with different concentration of Sulphuric acid (30%, 40%, 50%, 60%, 70%, 80%, 90-98%), in order to break dawn, the hard seed coat. The results showed that treatment with 98% concentration of Sulphuric acid (H2SO4) affected the viability of the embryo and no germination was observed whereas, treatment with 70% concentration increased the percentage of germination to 95%. Keywords: Carob, seed germination, distilled water, temperature, boiling water, sulphuric acid