MARDI Res.Bull.

, (1982)
10,2: (131- 137)

THE EFFECTS OF SUN AND OVEN-DRYING ON THE GERMINATION

AND STORABILITY OF RICE (ORYZASATIVA) SEEDS

TENG YEEW THAI* and SHAHARUDDIN MOHD' DAUDT

Keywords: Rice seeds,Sun-drying,Oven-drying,Germination,Storability.

RINGKASAN

Pengeringan dengan cahaya matahari dan oven (40'C) telah dijalankan ke atas dua varieti padi
(Mahsuri dan Pulut Malaysia I) untuk menentukan kesan kedua-dua cara pengeringan terhadap per-
cambahan dan penyimpanan bijibenih. Walaupun kandungan kelembapan bijibenih yang dikeringkan
dengan cahaya matahari menurun dengan lebih cepat, kandungan kelembapan keseimbangan akhir yang
didapati oleh bijibenih ini adalah lebih tinggi daripada bijibenih yang dikeringkan dengan oven (lapan
hari pengeringan). Percambahan bijibenih yang dikeringkan dengan cahaya matahari dan oven didapati
tiada perbezaan yang nyata (P:0.05) dalam masa pengeringan. Kesan buruk oleh pengeringan cahaya
matahari menjadi lebih jelas semasa penyimpanan. Ini ditunjukkan dengan kecepatan kemerosotan
'ambient' (28"-30"C;
bijibenih yang disimpan terutama di dalam keadaan 807o RH).

INTRODUCTION sensitive(KnEvcen, 1954)and their germi-

nation capacityand energyare the first pro-
Seed drying is one of the prestorage pertiesto be impairedby high temperatures.
treatments that plays a crucial role in the
preparation of seedfor storage.Inefficient On the otherhand,oven-dryingat40'C
drying can contributein a major way to the had been reported by Hon, (1977) and
low quality of seedsproduced.Sun-dryingof TiNc, (1980)to be more efficient for rapid
seedshad been reportedto be slowand vari- reduction of seed moisture of groundnut,
able dependingon the weather conditions maize,sorghumand soybeanascomparedto
(MucKLE and STIRLING, 1971).It had also sun-dryingunder Malaysianconditions.The
been reported to cause considerableseed oven-dried seeds of these crops were of
deterioration of groundnut (Arachis better quality in terms of vigour and germi-
hypogaeaL.), maize(Zeamays L. ), sorghum nation, and had better storability.
(SorghumvulgareL.) and soybean(Glycine
max (L) Merill) (Hon, 1977;TENc,1980).In In Malaysia, rice is one of the most
certainseeds,the detrimentaleffectsof sun- important cereal crops. A total of 380,500
drying may not be initially evidentduringthe hectares are under rice cultivation in
drying period, but will showup only after a Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah has 40,400
period of storage.This wasobservedby IJon hectareswhile Sarawakhas 113,300hectares
(1977) on groundnut and TeNc (1980) on making a total of 534,2A0 hectaresunderrice
soybean. cultivation in the country. It is the only non-
export orientated crop in Peninsular
KREYGER(1954) and OwEN (1956) Malaysiathat receivesparticularattentionin
had reported that the rapid rise in seed its improvement to include breeding and
temperatures after a short period of selection.In the germplasmcollectionof this
exposureto the intenseheat of sun-drying crop, a few thousandaccessions have been
may also causeseedinjury. Seedsare heat collected and conserved. Being such an

* M e s s r s .M o n s a n t o ( M ) S d n . B h d . , P . O . B o x 1 0 4 2 .P e t a l i n gJ a y a
t ResearchAssistant, Plant ScienceBranch, MARDI, Serdans.

l3l
important crop, it is imperative to under
stand the storabilityof its seedsafter drying
under Malaysian conditions in order to
provide guidelines for the handling and
maintenanceof goodquality rice seeds.
In view of the above, a study was
initiated to determine the effectsof drying
and the subsequentstorability of the dried
seedsof two rice varietiesunder Malaysian
conditions.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Freshly harvested seeds of rice
(Mahsuri and Pulut Malaysia I) were
obtained from the Rice Branch, MARDI,
Bumbong Lima for this study. Mahsuri is a
non-glutinous rice variety whereas Pulut
Malaysia I is a glutinous rice variety. The
working samplesfor the varioustreatments
were randomly obtainedfrom the harvested
seedsusinga GametDivider.
In the drying experiment,one lot (25
kilograms)of the seedswere spreadto about
one inch on aluminium trays (size 150cm x
100cm x 50 cm) andsun-drieddaily for about
six hours for eight days. The seedswere
periodically turned over. During the non-
drying period, the seedswere kept in closed
plastic containersand placed in an ambient
room (28'-30"C;80% RH). Another lot of
seedswas oven-driedcontinuouslyat 40'C.
The seedswere alsospreadon traysto about
one inch thick and periodicallyturned over,
The oven w'asventilated.
For eachdrying method,seedmoisture
and germinationtestswere conductedat the
beginning (control) of the experimentand
continued at daily interval for eight days.
Some seedswere sampledfor storagewhen
they were dried to about ll7o moisture.
The seedsfor storagewere dustedwith
fungicidepolyram (80ct|'a.i. polymericman-
ganeseethylenebisdithiocarbonate) at a rate
of90 gm. per 45 kgm ofseedsand about100
gm of seedswerepackedin polythenebagsof
size 8 cm x 15 cm and 0.15 mm thick. The
sealed bags were then stored in ambient
t3 2
(28'-30'C; 80% RH) and air-conditioned
(19'-23C;60% RH) rooms.All treatment
combinationswere replicated three times.
Seedmoisture and germinationwere testec
at the beginningof storage.The germination
testwascontinuedat sixmonthsintervalfor a
period of 24 months.
Seedmoisturewas determinedby the
air-ovenmethod of one hour at 130"C,using
three replicatesandcalculatedon wet-weight
basis.
Germinationwasdoneby sowing3 x 50
seedson top of paper and placingthem in
ambient condition of temperature 28o to
30"C and 80% RH. The germinationcount
was done on the 5th. and 14th. daysafter
sowingaccordingto the ISTA rules(ANoN.
1966).The resultswere analysedusing the
LSD t-test.
RESULTS
l. Changesin moisturecontentandgermi-
nation of rice seedsduring drying
The freshlyharvestedseedsof Mahsuri
and Pulut Malaysia I had high initial
moisturecontentsof 17.9c/cand 19.8%,and
germination percentagesof 95 and 96
respectively.
Figures1 and2showthat the changes in
seedmoisturecontentof Mahsuriduringsun
and oven-dryingwere similarto that of Pulut
MalaysiaI. At the earlypart of drying,sun-
drying appearedto causemore rapid reduct-
ion of seedmoisturethan oven-drying.The
analysisindicatedthat the moisturecontent
of the sun-driedseedsof Mahsuri and Pulut
MalaysiaI weresignificantly (P:0.01) lower
than that of the oven-driedseedsat the first
to the sixth day of drying. On the sixth day
the mean differenceof moisturecontentof
the sun-dried and oven-dried seeds for
Mahsuriwasnot significant(P:0.05). How-
ever, further dryingresultedin a lowermois-
ture content attained by oven-driedseeds.
This was evident on the seventhand eight
day of drying wherethe moisturecontentof

18.0
17.0
16.0
c)
14.0
o
12.0
O
O
11.0
9.0
8.0
oven-drying
sun-drying
7.0
0 1 2 3
Period of drYing in daYs
Figure 1. Changesin moisture content and germination of rtce (Mahsuri) seedsduring drying.
the oven-dried seeds of both Mahsuri and
Pulut Malaysia I was significantly (P:0.01)
lower than that of sun-driedseeds.
Seed germination was maintained at
more than 90Vo throughout the drying
period, irrespective of variety and drying
method (FiguresI and2). For Mahsuri, the
mean differenceof germinationof the sun-
dried and oven-driedseedswas not signifi-
cant (P:0.05) throughoutthe drying period
(eightdaysof drying).
On the otherhand,the meandifference
of germination of sun-driedand oven-dried
seeds of Pulut Malaysia I was significant
(P:0.05) except on the first, seventhand
eight day of drying.
2. Changesinmoisturecontentandgermi-
nation of rice seedsduring storage
The moisturecontentof sun-driedand
oven-dried seeds of Mahsuri and pulut
Malaysia I fluctuated during the storage
period. Under air-conditionedenvironment,
133
Germination
L S D . o . o s=l 3 . 0 4 0 5
6D(0.0,, = 4.0800
100
90
80
o
'70 (D
60
o
50
40
30
20
10
4 5 6 7 8
the seed moisture content of all the stored
seeds varied from8.6Vc to l2.2otbduring the
twenty-four months period. Under ambient
condition the seed moisture content varied
from9.17atol2.l%(Tablel).
Tables 2 and 3 show that the sermina-
tion of sun-driedseedsof Mahsuriand Pulut
MalaysiaI decreasedmore rapidly than the
oven-dried seedsunder both ambient and
air-conditionedenvironment.This decrease
in germination was more evident for seeds
store{under ambientconditions.
the first twelve monthsof storage'
there was no significantdifference(P:0'05)
in the germinationpercentages of all stored
seeds.Their germinationvariedfrom887oto
96Va.For seedsstoredunder ambientcondi-
tion, the oven-dried seeds(Mahsuri 357o;
Pulut MalaysiaI70Vo) of both varietieshad
significantly (P:0.05) better germination
than the sun-dried seeds (Mahsurt 13Vc;
PulutMalaysial6%)aftereighteenmonths
of storage.
 Figure 2. Changesin moisture content and germination of rice
(Pulut Malaysia I) seedsduring drytnq'
130

Cernrination 120
L S D ( o . o s=r 2 ' 9 3 8 4
L S D , o . o ,-)- 3 . 9 4 3 0

(D

o
O
O

\
\
MoistureContent \
L S D ^ ^ . .= 0 . 1 1 7 1
(r,.trf,.,

LSD ,^,. = 0.1571

(r,.U I I

KEY

oven-drying
sun-dryittg

Periodof dryingin days

TABLE 1. THE MOISTURECONTENTOF SUN AND OVEN.DRIEDSEEDSOF TWO RICE

(ORYZA SATTV4)VARIETIESDURINGSTORAGEUNDER AMBIENTAND
ENVIRONMENT
AIR-CONDITIONED FOR 24 MONTHS

MAHSURI PULUT MALAYSIA I

Period Of
Air-conditioned Ambient Air-conditioned Ambient
Storage(mths)
Srrn Oven Sun Oven Sun Oven Sun Oven

0 11.2 11.2 tt.2 Ir.2 I 1.1 r1.1 11.1 11.1

o l 1.19 10.2 t1.7 n.0 i _t.) 1 1 . 1 11 . 6 11.2

t2 12.1 ll.1 t2.l t2.0 12.2 t2.0 12.1 I 1.9

18 9.4 8.9 9.5 9.1 9.5 8.6 9.2 9.7

a/ 10.3 9.8 10.0 9.6 10.3 9.4 9.6 9.3

134
 TABLE 2. GERMINATIONOF SUN AND OVEN.DRIEDRICE SEEDS(VARIETY
MAHSURI)STOREDAT INITIAL MOISTUREOF I1.2%UNDERAMBIENTAND AIR-
CONDITIONED ENVIRONMENTFOR 24 MONTHS

Period of Ambient Air-conditioned

Storage(mths) Sun Oven Sun Oven

6 90.0 93.8 9 1. 5 97.8

T2 90.5 93.0 93,0 94.0

l8 I z.) 35 . 0 14.5 8l.5

l4 0.0 0.0 34.0 59.0

LSD s% 15.r%
LSD t% 20.2%

Controitreatmentmean: 9l .5%
LSD t-test:
If the differencebetweenany treatmentmeanand that of the control isr
15.1% significantat 5%level.
20.2% significantat l%leve|.

TABLE 3. GERMINATION
OF SUN AND OVEN.DRIEDRICE(ORYZASATIVA VAR,
PULUTMALAYSIAI) SEEDSSTOREDAT INITIAL MOISTUREOF 11.I% UNDER
AMBIENTAND AIR.CONDITIONEDENVIRONMENT FOR 24 MONTHS

Period of Ambient Air-conditioned

Storage(mths) Sun Oven Sun Oven

6 9r.0 95 . 3 93.0 98.0

t2 88.0 96.0 89.5 93.0
l8 6.0 70.s 87.5 78.5
z+ 0.0 0.0 20.s 72.4
LSD s% t I . 1 %
LSD t% t5.7%

Controltreatmentmean: 93.0%
LSD t-test:
If the differencebetweenany treatmentmeanand that of the control is
11.7% s i g n i f i c a nat
t 5%level.
15.1% significantal l7o level.

135
 For seedsstoredunder air-conditioned
environment, significant difference
(P:0.05) in the germination percentages
betweenthe oven-driedand sun-driedseeds
was only evident at twenty-four months of
storage.The germinationof the oven-dried
seeds(Mahsuri 59%; Pulut MalaysiaI 72Vo)
was better than that of the sun-dried seeds
(l{ahsuri 34Vo; Pulut MalaysiaI, 20Vo).
DISCUSSION
It is evidentfrom the abovestudythat
sun-dryingcancausemorerapid reductionof
rice seed moisture content to about 8.5%
than oven-dryingat 40'C. This is probably
due to the higher temperatureduring sun-
drying which can vary between40'to 7ffC.
However, the lower moisture content
attained by the oven-dried seedsas com-
pared to that ofthe sun-driedseedsat the end
of the drying period is probably due to the
consistentlylower relativehumidityof oven-
drying. In terms of germination,sun-drying
appeared to have more adverse effects
However, the adverseeffectof sun-dryingas
compared to oven-dryingwas not evident
during the drying period.
The more rapid deterioration of the
sun-dried seeds of both rice varieties
especiallywhen storedunder ambientcondi-
tions suggest that greater injury was
sustainedby the seedsunder Malaysiancon-
ditions had been reported earlier by Hon
(1977)on groundnuts,and TENc, (1980)on
maize, sorghum and soybean. The injury
sustainedby the seedsduring sun-dryinghad
been attributedto the rapid risein seedtem-
perature after a short period of exposureto
intense heat (4tr-70'C). The sun-dried
seeds thus were of poorer quality than the
oven-dried seeds before storage. This
accountsfor their more rapid deterioration
during storage especially under adverse
condition.
It can be concludedfrom the above
study that sun-drying on aluminium trays
produces poorer quality seedsthan oven-
drying at 40'C. If the rice seedshas been
sun-dried to 1,1,.0Vomoisture, they should
not be kept for more than twelve months
under ambient conditions(28-3trC, 80Vo
RH). However, when stored under air-
conditioned environmentof 19"-23C and
60VoP.}{, they canbe safelystoredfor about
eighteenmonths.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The author would like to expresshis
gratitude to the Head of Plant Science
Branch MARDI for going through the
manuscript. Thanks are also due to Encik
Munir bin Jaafarfor his statisticalassistance,
Encik Shaharudinbin Daud for his technical
assistanceand all thosewho have rendered
their help in one way or anotherto makethis
studypossible.

SUMMARY

Sun-drying and oven-drying (40"C) were carried out on two rice varieties (Mahsuri and Pulut
MalaysiaI) to determinetheir effectson seedqulity in termsof seedgerminationandstorability.Although
sun-drying resultedin more rapid reductionin seedmoisture,the final moisturecontentattainedby the
seedswashigherthan that of the oven-driedseedsat the endof the eight-daydryingperiod.Therewasno
significantdifference(P=0.05) in the germinationofthe sun-driedandoven-driedseedsduring the drying
period. The adverseeffect of sun-dryingbecamemore evidentduringsubsequentstorage.This wasshown
by the more rapid deteriorationof the sun-driedseedsespeciallyunderambientconditions(28'-30'C;
80% RH).
HoR, Y.L. (1977). Storage of field crop
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136
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