This papar compares the results of an embryo culture with those of the usual seed stratification process. One hundred seeds obtained from early ripening peach were stratified either immediately after extraction from fruits (50 seeds) or after exposure to room temperature for 96 hours (50 seeds). Embryos from mature fruits were cultured aseptically in vitro on nutrient media containing the macro and microelements of Murashige & Skoog, inusitol, thiamine, nicotinic acid, glycine, GA3, sucrose and agar at 5(0)C for 50 days. Results showed that the culture media increased the seed germination as compared with the stratification treatments. The embryo-culture technique had the highest percentage of germination and of the seedlings and could well be used in the breeding program to shorten the ripening cycles of peaches.
peach breeding; germination; in vitro embryo culture