Major seed quality characters

a) Physical Quality: It is the cleanliness of seed from other seeds, debris, inert matter, diseased seed and insect damaged seed. The seed with physical quality should have uniform size, weight, and colour and should be free from stones, debris, and dust, leafs, twigs, stems, flowers, fruit well without other crop seeds and inert material. It also should be devoid of shriveled, diseased mottled, moulded, discoloured, damaged and empty seeds. The seed should be easily identifiable as a species of specific category of specific species.

b) Genetic purity: It is the true to type nature of the seed. i.e., the seedling / plant / tree from the seed should resemble its mother in all aspects. This quality character is important for achieving the desired goal of raising the crop either yield or for resistance or for desired quality factors.

c) Physiological Quality: It is the actual expression of seed in further generation / multiplication. Physiological quality characters of seed comprise of seed germination and seed vigour. The liveliness of a seed is known as viability. The extent of liveliness for production of good seedling or the ability of seed for production of seedling with normal root and shoot under favorable condition is known as germinability.

d) Seed Health – Health status of seed is nothing but the absence of insect infestation and fungal infection, in or on the seed. Seed should not be infected with fungi or infested with insect pests as these will reduce the physiological quality of the seed and also the physical quality of the seed in long term storage. The health status of seed influences the seed quality characters directly and warrants their soundness in seed for the production of elite seedlings at nursery / field.