ISSN 2320-5407 International Journal of Advanced Research (2014), Volume 2, Issue 10, 662-670 Journal homepage: http://www.journalijar.com INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ADVANCED RESEARCH RESEARCH ARTICLE -EFFECT OF DIFFERENT SEED PRIMING TREATMENTS ON ACTIVITY AND ISOZYME PATTERN OF ANTIOXIDANT ENZYMES IN OKRA Neena Chawla 2 , Hardeep Kaur 1 , Mamta Pathak 2 and Rajinder Chawla 3 1.Department of Biochemistry, P.A.U., Ludhiana. 2.Department of vegetable Science, P.A.U., Ludhiana. 3.Department of Biochemistry, Christian Medical College and Hospital, Ludhiana . Manuscript Info Abstract Manuscript History: Received: 14 August 2014 Final Accepted: 25 September 2014 Published Online: October 2014 Key words: Okra, seed priming, antioxidant enzyme, lipidperoxidation, isozymes *Corresponding Author Neena Chawla 2 Effect of seed priming treatments and soaking durations on activity and isozyme pattern of antioxidant enzymes was studied. Four treatments:hydropriming, osmo-priming with 5% PEG, osmo-priming with 10% PEG and distilled water with soaking durations from 6 to 48 h at 6 h interval h were used. Dry okra seeds (unsoaked) seved as control. Priming increased the activity of antioxidant enzymes. Maximum increase was observed with T 2 . Seeds soaked for 24 h showed maximum activity Priming with T 2 treatment for 24 h soaking gave the best results, followed by T 1 and T 3 , while unsoaked control seeds proved to be the poorest. Copy Right, IJAR, 2014,. All rights reserved Introduction Okra (Abelmoschus esculentus L.) is one of the most widely known dicotyledonous plants and utilized species of the family Malvaceae (Naveed et al., 2009). It is a popular summer crop. The edible part of okra is the immature pod, which is harvested when tender. The young tender pods are cooked in curries, stewed and used in soups. Young okra leaves are also edible. Okra pods are a good source of flavonoid antioxidants like beta carotene, xanthein and lutein (Dilruba et al., 2009). Okra has been known to be beneficial to people suffering from leucorrhoea and general weakness. Due to its high iodine content, its fruits are considered useful to control goiter and have medicinal value in curing ulcers and relief from haemorrhoids (Demir 2001). This vegetable provides an important input of vitamins and mineral salts, including calcium which are often lacking in the diet of people in developing countries (Kahlon et al., 2007). Seed priming is pre-sowing treatment used as a technique to enhance seed performance, notably with respect to rate and uniformity of germination (Taylor and Vananen, 1998), thereby improving seedling stand and enabling better crop establishment (Job et al 2000). It is a simple, low cost and effective approach for early seedling growth and yield under stressed and non stressed conditions. Seed soaking enhance the plant tolerance to salinity (Ehsanfer et al., 2006). Priming allows some of the metabolic processes to occur necessarily for germination before actual germination to get start (Yari et al., 2010). Priming triggers the synthesis or activation of some enzymes that catalyze the mobilization of storage reserves in seed, while endosperm weakens by hydrolase activities. Priming