Representation of He-Ne laser irradiation effect on radish seeds with selected germination indices

In this paper the effect of He-Ne laser irradiation of radish seeds as a potential means to accelerate the germination rates have been investigated. We examined whether the change of final germination percentage (FGP) of irradiated seeds is accompanied by changes of other germination indices. Germination tests were carried out at the temperatures of 15 and 20oC, and the selected germination indices were: mean germination rate, mean germination time, relative frequency, time for the first seed to germinate, time to reach 50% germination, time between 25 and 75% and time between 10 and 90% of final germination. The results showed that He-Ne laser light irradiation could significantly affect the FGP when compared to the control seeds, although these depended on the germination temperature. The irradiation improves the FGP only at 20oC, although there were no differences detected in any other examined germination indices. The results led to the conclusion that irradiation did not affect any time-related properties describing the germination process. A simple comparison of the FGP of control and the irradiated seeds was found to be the only germination index which indicated the influence of He-Ne laser irradiation on germination.