Determining maximum germination temperatures of pea and barley seeds

Abstract

The use of sprouted seeds of cereals and legumes in human nutrition requires establishing an appropriate process of their production in the food industry. It takes one-two weeks for seeds to germinate in natural conditions, which is not viable for their industrial production and processing. In this regard, various technological techniques are being undertaken to accelerate the process of seed germination, based on the intensification of biochemical processes occurring in the seed embryos. The aim of this paper is to identify the temperature regime of germination for pea seeds at each stage of a two-stage technological process to optimize their germination over time. The research is based on the data on the temperature regime and germination time of pea seeds of Temp, Sofia, Spartak, Amior and naked barley varieties, the chemical composition of which is crucial during germination. The quantitative estimates of the maximum germination temperature of seeds are determined based on the known computational dependencies. Within the framework of a two-stage approach to the process of seed germination, the following temperature regime of their germination in technological processes is proposed: at the first stage – 37 °C; at the second stage – 30 °C. That will intensify the germination process and increase the yield of seedlings when scaling.