Author : Ernayunita

Summary : Back cross-1 resulted from the crossing of Elaeis oleifera with Elaeis guineensis, followed by backcrossing to one of its parents. Oil palm backcross 1 has several advantages, including slow high growth and good oil quality, thereby having the potential to be developed. However, oil palm seeds of backcross 1 tend to have a short seed shelf life, which might be inherited from Elaeis oleifera that has relatively quick seed deterioration. This problem is very detrimental to the breeding program, and there have not been many studies on the seed deterioration process. The aim of this study was to determine the deterioration process and viability of the seeds of oil palm back cross-1 at different seed storage periods. The treatments are different seed storage periods, i.e. 4 years, 3 years, 2 years, and less than 1 year, arranged in a Completely Randomized Design (CRD) with single factor. The result of this study showed different seed deterioration depend on seed storage periods, which is seed rapid deterioration that is related to long storage periods. The deterioration process was caused by the high content of oxidized of unsaturated fatty acids and produced free radicals that poisoned the seeds. Therefore, the metabolism of the seeds was disrupted. Oil palm back cross-1 seeds' deterioration was characterized by dry embryo, low seeds moisture content, high electro conductivity and fat content of the seeds, and decreased viability. The deterioration process was quite fast since after 2 years of storage, the seeds were unable to germinate. Moreover, after a seed storage of less than 1 year, the seeds viability was very low, reaching only 17%.