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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Sustain. Food Syst.
Sec. Crop Biology and Sustainability
Volume 9 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fsufs.2025.1534929

Incidence of Seed-Borne Fungi of Stored Sunflower Seeds (Helianthus annuus) in Tanzania and Their Influence on Seed Viability and Vigor

Provisionally accepted
Siwajali Selemani Siwajali Selemani *Richard Madege Richard Madege Yasinta Nzogela Yasinta Nzogela
  • Department of Crop Science and Horticulture, Sokoine University of Agriculture, Morogoro, Tanzania

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Understanding the impact of seed-borne fungi on seed quality is crucial for improving sunflower productivity. This research was conducted to study the incidence of seed-borne fungi in stored sunflower seeds under ambient conditions as well as their influence on seed viability and vigor. Certified seeds, Quality Declared Seeds (QDS) and Farmer saved seeds (FSS) were stored for six months. Seed samples were taken every month evaluated for fungal infection percent (FIP), germination percentage (G) and seedling vigor index (SVI). Eight fungal species namely; Aspergillus flavus, A. niger, Alternaria padwickii, A. zinniae, Botrytis cinerea, Curvularia lunata, Fusarium vericillioides and Rhizopus arrihizus were identified. The highest incidence of F. vericillioides (14.39%), B. cinerea (14.28%) was in FSS and the minimum of A. zinniae (1.83%) was recorded in QDS. Maximum total fungal infection incidence was recorded in FSS (73.11%) and minimum in QDS (66.94%) and certified seeds (67.06%). The QDS had the highest G (81.56%) and certified seeds (81.33%). The maximum SVI (96.76) was recorded in certified seeds and 95.69 (in QDS). The minimum G% (60.67) and SVI (65.98) were noted in FSS. The highest G and SVI were recorded in seeds with minimum FIP. These results highlight that, fungal infections negatively affect the seed vigor and viability. The current study is the first of its kind to report and determine the incidence of seed-borne fungi in stored sunflower seeds in Tanzania

    Keywords: Packaging materials, Seed-borne fungi, seedling vigor, sunflower, viability, packaging materials

    Received: 27 Nov 2024; Accepted: 13 Jan 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Selemani, Madege and Nzogela. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Siwajali Selemani, Department of Crop Science and Horticulture, Sokoine University of Agriculture, Morogoro, Tanzania

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.