Comparison of eight Toona sinensis provenances for seed properties，sprouting vegetable yield，and sprout nutritional components

Seed physical properties，seed germination rate，sprouting vegetable yield，and sprout nutritional components of eight provenances of Toona sinensis seeds were tested using indoor experiment. Results showed:（1） significant differences among provenances for seed length （P = 0.036 8），seed width （P = 0.025 8），seed water content （P = 0.002 9），thousand kernel weight （P = 0.020 0），and seed germination rate （P ＜ 0.000 1）. Significant differences were also found for sprout yield （P ＜ 0.000 1），soluble protein content of sprouts （P = 0.002 6），amino acid content of sprouts （P = 0.003 7），and Vitamin C content of sprouts （P = 0.034 0）. （2） Seed germination rate have significant positive correlation with sprout yield （r = 0.692 8，P ＜0.000 1） and Vitamin C content of sprouts （r = 0.480 9，P = 0.000 6）；thousand kernel weight had a significant positive correlation with amino acid content of sprouts （r = 0.434 8，P = 0.002 3），sprout length （r = 0.531 3，P = 0.000 1），and weight per sprout （r =0.473 5，P = 0.000 8）；and content of soluble protein of sprout had a significant negative correlation with content of amino acid of sprout （r = －0.705 6，P＜0.000 1）. （3）For high sprout yield，the best provenance was Xunyang with an average of 1 g of seed producing 9.23 g of sprouts. The best provenances were Chengdu for high soluble protein content，Shijiazhuang for amino acid content，and Sui-ning for sprout vitamin C content.［Ch，1 fig. 3 tab. 9 ref.］