PERTANIKA JOURNAL OF TROPICAL AGRICULTURAL SCIENCE

Aromatic Green Dwarf (AROD), commonly known in Malaysia as aromatic pandan coconut, is a dwarf type of coconut that has a unique aroma and flavour, and originated from Thailand. Aromatic pandan coconut is a popular coconut variety in Southeast Asia, particularly in Thailand and Malaysia, where it is widely consumed fresh. This popularity has led to an increasing demand for high-quality planting materials to support its commercial cultivation. Currently, the germination rate of aromatic pandan coconut seed nuts is around 40% under commercial practice, where matured seed nuts were harvested at 12 months after pollination (MAP) for germination. Thus, this study was conducted to improve the seed nuts' germination performance by evaluating the effect of mother palm age and optimising the harvesting maturity stage of seed nuts harvested. In this study, aromatic pandan coconut seed nuts harvested at 10, 11, and 12 MAP were evaluated using two mother palm ages (10 years and 30 years). Seed germination performance was assessed at Tun Abdul Razak Agricultural Research Centre (Pusat Penyelidikan Pertanian Tun Abdul Razak, PPPTAR), Jengka, Pahang, using several parameters, including final germination rate after a four-month germination period, germination index, mean germination time, germination rate index, time spread of germination and seedling vigour index. The results showed that aromatic pandan coconut seed nuts harvested at 10 MAP achieved the highest final germination rate at 10 years and 30 years’ mother palms age (60.7% and 65.3%), followed by 11 MAP (56.0% and 51.3%) and 12 MAP (45.3% and 41.0%).