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Annals of Botany 84: 263-265, 1999
© 1999 Annals of Botany Company

COMMUNICATION

Time to Seed Death as a Function of the Gibbs Free Energy of Water Vapour: Practical and Theoretical Implications

J. M. DESMARCHELIER+

CSIRO Entomology, GPO Box 1700, Canberra, ACT, 2601, Australia

July 23, 1998 ; September 10, 1998 . April 22, 1999

ABSTRACT

Time (t) to loss of seed viability (e.g. log t or log {sigma}) is modelled in the literature as the sum of a moisture term and a quadratic temperature term, f(T,T2). The coefficients inf(T,T2) have been shown to be ‘identical’ in orthodox seeds. I postulate that this identity is due to a parameter common to all seeds and, consistent with that hypothesis, report a close correlation (R2=0.9998) between f(T,T2) and the Gibbs free energy of water vapour, G, over the temperature range 0–90 °C. The hypothesis has the statistical advantage of reducing the number of independent variables from two to one, without changing the fit. This is demonstrated from analysis of data for lettuce and barley. An explanation for this correlation of time to seed death with G is that water vapour is the proximate source of energy leading to decomposition of individual molecules, with the ultimate result of seed death. Copyright 1999 Annals of Botany Company

Seed longevity, temperature effect, Gibbs free energy of water vapour, moisture-temperature interactions, Hordeum vulgare L., barley, Lactuca sativa L., lettuce.


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