Dormancy Breaking of Kimalaka Seeds (Phyllanthus emblica L.) at Various Concentrations of Sulfuric Acid

Abstract

The kimalaka plant (Phyllanthus emblica L.), known as „balakka”, by the people of North Sumatra, with the English translation is called indian gooseberry [1] and is called “popok melaka” in Malaysia [2]. The kimalaka plant is a commodity with great potential to be developed, one of which is due to the high content of vitamin C so that the kimalaka plant has many health benefits. Especially in the Padangsidimpuan area and its surroundings, this kimalaka plant is more widely known as a mixture of traditional cooking spices, with the name of the food being called „holat”.The widespread conversion of land into smallholder plantations with commodities such as rubber and oil palm is one of the threats to the extinction of the kimalaka plant. Lack of information about the kimalaka plant is also the cause of the underdevelopment of this kimalaka cultivation. Kimalaka seed with a very hard seed coat is a factor causing kimalaka seed dormancy. So before planting, there must be a treatment to break dormancy. This study aims to see and observe the effect of various sulfuric acid concentrations to break the dormancy of kimalaka seeds. This study used a non-factorial randomized block design (RBD) with one factor, namely the concentration of sulfuric acid with 4 levels, namely: A0 = Control, A1 = 4%, A2 = 6%, A3 = 8%. The observation variables were the percentage of germination (%), plant height (cm), and the number of leaves. Based on the results of this study, it was found that the treatment of sulfuric acid concentration was significantly different in all observation variables. The treatment that gave the best effect on all observation parameters was sulfuric acid at a concentration of 8%. In future research, it is suggested to increase the sulfuric acid concentration.