Advances in Seed Science and Technology

A seed is a small embryonic plant enclosed in a covering called the seed coat, usually with some stored food. It is the product of the ripened ovule of gymnosperm and angiosperm plants which occurs after fertilization and some growth within the mother plant. The formation of the seed completes the process of reproduction in seed plants (started with the development of flowers and pollination), with the embryo developed from the zygote and the seed coat from the integuments of the ovule. All seeds are different size, shape and colour. Seeds have been an important development in the reproduction and spread of flowering plants, relative to more primitive plants such as mosses, fernsand liverworts, which do not have seeds and use other means to propagate themselves. This can be seen by the success of seed plants in dominating biological niches on land, from forests to grasslands both in hot and cold climates. Thus this book will provide an understanding of all the aspects of spices, plantation, medicinal and aromatic plants, seed production and help the students at UG and PG Level researchers, scientists, entrepreneurs to enrich their knowledge in the field of spices, plantation, medicinal and aromatic plants.