Simple Mechanical Scarification Improves Seed Germination of Viola odorata ‘Empress Augusta’ When Combined with Cold Stratification

Viola odorata, commonly known as sweet violet, is valued for both its fragrance and medicinal properties. However, seeds of V. odorata exhibit non-deep physiological dormancy, resulting in poor and inconsistent germination. This dormancy can be overcome through physical or chemical treatments, including scarification, stratification, and hormone application. Although mechanical scarification is effective, many commonly used approaches have notable limitations, such as reliance on corrosive chemicals and a lack of uniformity. This study presents a simple and effective mechanical scarification technique using rat-tooth tweezers to gently crack the seed coat tip of V. odorata ‘Empress Augusta’ (EA). This method significantly improved germination. When combined with cold stratification at 4 °C, germination further increased, reaching 70% within 8 weeks. Germination was enhanced even further on Murashige and Skoog (MS) basal salt medium supplemented with 10 mg/L gibberellic acid (GA3), achieving 97.5% germination by day 54. These findings suggest that this simple mechanical scarification method, when combined with cold stratification and GA3 treatment, could provide a reliable and practical strategy for breaking dormancy and facilitating seed germination in V. odorata.