The Effects of Salinity on Mung Bean (Vigna radiata) Seed Germination

Abstract

Vigna radiata, also known as “the green gram” or “mung bean,” is a plant species in the legume family. Mung beans typically germinate within 2-5 days, but factors such as temperature, salinity level, pH of water, and more affect germination and growth rate (Overhiser 2019). Knowing this, we aimed to determine how the salinity concentration present in the growth medium would affect the germination rate of mung beans. In this experiment, members performed the same experiment with the same measurements. Each group member exposed 25 mung bean seeds to varying salinity treatment groups: 0, 40, 80 and 120 mM/ L. The amount of seeds germinated were recorded each day. Our study found a general decreasing germination rate with increasing salinity concentrations, which can be associated with ethylene production and osmotic stress. Average germination rate after two days was determined to be 73% in the 0 mM/L, 67% in the 40 mM/L, 53% in the 80 mM/L, and 43% in the 120 mM/L; all values are significantly different from one another receptor for 0 and 40 mM/ L groups. This affirms our initial hypothesis that an increase in salinity would cause a decrease in germination. Although only mung beans were tested, results can be applied to many other dried legumes and seeds, allowing us to test more advanced hypotheses in the future. For future studies, this could be replicated with other types of beans or include greater sample sizes.