SEED PROCESSING

The objective of fruit or seed processing is to achieve clean, pure seeds of high
physiological quality (germinability) which can be stored and easily handled
during succeeding processes, such as pretreatment, transport and sowing.
Processing includes a number of handling procedures, where applicability
differs e.g. according to fruit and seed type, condition of the fruits or seeds at
collection and potential storage period. Processing can be grouped into the
following 7 procedures:
1. Pre-cleaning, for fruit or seed lots containing larger debris, leaves, twigs,
empty fruit parts etc.
2. Pre-curing, for fruits that must be after-ripened, or where rapid desiccation
hampers extraction.
3. Extraction, for species where the fruits are collected but only the seeds (and
occasionally part of the fruit) are stored and sown.
4. Dewinging, for fruits and seeds with wings. Also including removal of dry
appendices like spines, arils and hairs.
5. Cleaning, for fruits or seeds with impurities like fruit parts, leaves, twigs,
empty seeds, foreign seeds and chaff.
6. Grading, for seed lots with large variation in seed size or weight.
7. Adjustment of moisture content, for seeds which, after the other
procedures, have a higher or lower moisture content than considered optimal
for storage of the particular species for the expected storage period.
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• Seed processing normally follows above discussed order, but
certain steps may be irrelevant and hence omitted for particular
species or seed lots.

• Processing should, as far as possible, take place immediately

after the fruits or seeds have been brought to the processing
depot.

• The timely order of processing should give high priority to

species and seed lots with easily deteriorating seeds, e.g.
fleshy fruits and recalcitrant seeds, or seeds collected with a
high moisture content.

• Processing is not necessarily one continuous process. Partial

or intermediate processing, like pre-cleaning, drying or removal
of fleshy fruit parts, may typically be undertaken upon arrival to
the processing depot in order to impede deterioration during
transit. Final processing may then be postponed until later. 2
 Pre-Cleaning
• Pre-cleaning is the removal of larger matter such as
leaves, twigs and empty fruits. In the field pre-cleaning is
undertaken primarily to reduce bulk during transport and
storage. If bulk reduction has not been undertaken in the
field, it may be relevant at the processing depot.

• In some cases pre-cleaning may be necessary to remove

material that may impede efficient extraction and
subsequent cleaning.

• Pre-cleaning is usually done manually after arrival at the

seed-processing depot.

• Large quantities of fruits are pre-cleaned mechanically

e.g. on vibrating or oscillating screens or in tumblers. 3
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 Pre-Curing
• Pre-curing denotes the procedure during which fruits are
kept moist for a prolonged period before extraction. Pre-
curing has two rationales: 1) to promote after-ripening of
immature fruits, and 2) to ease extraction of seed where
rapid desiccation may cause extraction problems, in
extreme cases case-hardening.

• Seeds, which deliberately or incidentally were collected

immature, must be after-ripened to become
physiologically germinable.

• Pre-curing of cones primarily serves the purpose of

easing extraction. In several conifers rapid drying causes
insufficient expansion of the cone scales with
consequent difficulties in extracting the seeds.
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 Seed Extraction
• Extraction denotes the procedure of physically releasing
and separating the seeds from their enclosing fruit
structure. The main rationale of extraction is to:
– 1. Reduce bulk. The seeds typically make up 1-5% of the total fruit
volume. Bulk reduction helps to reduce cost of storing and
shipment.

– 2. Ease handling. Seeds are normally tested, pretreated and sown

individually, which makes their separation from the fruit necessary.

– 3. Improve storability. Easily decomposable fruit parts such as the

pulp of fleshy fruits or arils must be removed to avoid their
decomposition during storage.

• Seeds are extracted from most multiple-seeded dry fruits

such as capsules, pods and follicles and from most fleshy
fruit types. In single or few-seeded dry fruits like samaras
and nuts, the whole fruit is normally stored and sown
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 Dewinging
• De-winging, in a broad sense, is removal of any
dry seed appendage, including wings, spines,
hairs, and some aril types.

• Seed (or fruit) wings do not obstruct germination,

but may be inconvenient in handling. Accordingly,
the main purpose of dewinging is to reduce bulk
and ease handling during storage, pretreatment
and sowing. In some instances wings, hairs or
other appendices, which increase the surface
area of the seed, tend to collect moisture and
promote fungal attack.

• Wings of conifers are removed by mechanical

abrasion during tumbling. 13
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 Cleaning
• After extraction and possible dewinging the seed lot
typically consists of seeds mixed with inert matter such as
twigs, leaf and fruit fragments, soil particles, empty and
foreign seeds, dust, chaff and the like.

• The aim of seed cleaning is to eliminate all this foreign

material to reduce bulk, improve storability and make
seeds easier to handle during subsequent processes.

• The ideal cleaned seed lot consists of all viable seeds of

the target species, and is free from any other matter.

• Seed cleaning typically consists of a series of processes

during which impurities are gradually removed and the
seed lot concurrently achieves a progressively higher
purity.
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 Cleaning methods
• Sieving: Removal of large and small objects from the seed lot. Indented cylinder
cleaning: Separation of seeds and debris according to size or length.

• Winnowing and blowing: Removal of dust, chaff, wings or other light material
from seed lots. Less effective for light winged seed.

• Specific-gravity separation: Separation of seeds and objects differing in

weight, density and surface characteristic. High precision with consequent high
purity can be achieved for many species.

• Friction cleaning: Separation of seeds that differ in form or surface structure,

e.g. round seeds to be separated from flat seeds, or smooth seeds to be
separated from rough seeds.

• Flotation: Separation of mature viable seeds from chaff, empty seed, filled dead
seed, immature or insect-damaged seed or other particles with a specific gravity
smaller than that of seeds.

• IDS method: Incubation-Drying-Separation method is mainly used as a pre-

sowing separation to eliminate seeds that have lost viability during storage.
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 Seed Grading
While the objective of seed cleaning is to improve
purity by eliminating non-seed material and
foreign seed from the seed lot, the purpose of
grading is to improve the average physiological
quality of the seed lot by removing seed of the
same species with low quality.

Such seed may be empty seed, immature seed,

damaged or dead seed or seed developed after
self-fertilization. In the latter case the removal also
serves to improve the genetic quality of the seed
lot.
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 Adjusting Moisture Content for Storage

• After having obtained clean pure seed the

final processing procedure is to adjust
moisture content for seed that is to be
stored for any length of time.

• The appropriate moisture content varies

with species and potential storage period.

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 Potential Seed Damage during
Processing
• Mechanical damage. Usually on the seed-coats but
occasionally on the embryos with well developed seed
cotyledons.

• Heat damage. Often occurring by exposure to high kiln

temperature for extracting seeds from cones, or deliberate
burning for removal of fruit or seed hairs.

• Chemical damage. Sometimes occurring during

separation by flotation in organic liquids. Other potential
sources are fungicides.

• Water. Prolonged submersion in water, e.g. to soften the

fruit pulp may hamper respiration of the seeds. Prolonged
soaking may also cause imbibition and initiate germination
in seeds with no dormancy. 29
 Seed treating

•Seed treatment is the process of applying chemical

substances to seeds in order to reduce, control or repel seed
borne, soil borne, or air-borne organisms.

•The ideal seed-treatment chemicals should be:

•Highly effective against pathogenic organisms
•Relatively non toxic to plants
•Harmless to humans and livestock's, even if misused
•Stable for relatively longer periods of time during storage.
•Easy to use
•Economically competitive

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