This document discusses synthetic seeds, which are artificially encapsulated plant materials like somatic embryos, shoot buds, or cell aggregates that can be used for sowing like natural seeds. Synthetic seeds were originally only referred to somatic embryos for economic crop production, but now include other micropropagules. The first successful synthetic seed was produced in 1982 in carrot. There are two main types - desiccated synthetic seeds which are produced from desiccation tolerant species and hydrated synthetic seeds which encapsulate somatic embryos or shoots in hydrogels like sodium alginate. The encapsulation process involves a plant propagule, a gelling matrix that can include nutrients, and an artificial seed coat to develop the encapsulation system. Common encapsulation

1. Presented by – Divya Joshi
A0999318020
Submitted to- Dr. Amit
kharakwal

2. Synthetic seeds are defined as artificially
encapsulated somatic embryos, shoot buds, cell
aggregates, or any other tissue that can be used for
sowing as a seed and that possess the ability to
convert into a plant under in vitro or ex vitro
conditions and that retain this potential also after
storage
 They are also called “synseeds” or “artificial
seeds”

3. Earlier, synthetic seeds were referred only to
the somatic embryos that were of economic
use in crop production and plant delivery to
the field or greenhouses. In the recent past,
however, other micropropagules like shoot
buds, shoot tips, organogenic or embryogenic
etc.
The first synthetic seed was produced by
KITTO and JANICK in 1982 in carrot

4. • DESICCATED SYNTHETIC SEEDS- Desiccated
synthetic seeds are produced nacked or polyoxyethylene
glycol encapsulated somatic embryos. This type of
synthetic seeds is produced in desiccation tolerant species
plant.
• HYDRATED SYNTHETIC SEEDS- Hydrated synthetic
seeds are produced by encapsulating the somatic embryos
in hydrogels like sodium alginate, potassium alginate,
carrageenan, sodium pectate or sodium alginate with
gelatine.

5. (a)Plant propagule -(somatic embryo or shoot
bud) somatic embryos are bipolar structures with
both apical and basal meristematic regions,
which are capable of forming shoot and root,
respectively.
(b) Matrix, -is a gelling material encapsulating
plant propagules which incorporate nutrients,
biofertlizers, pesticides, nitrogen - fixing
bacteria, antibiotics or other essential additives.

6. (c) Seed shell -these are the artificial seed coats
prepared with complex mixture of alginate-
gelatin which was used to develop the coat
system for encapsulation. The concept of
artificial seed technology has been applied,
successfully in large numbers of plants

8. Gel complexation via a
dropping procedure-
It is a most useful
encapsulation system . Drip 2-3
% sodium alginate drops from
at the tip of the funnel and the
somatic embryos are inserted

9. Keeep the encapsulated embryos complex in
calcium salt for 20 min
Rinsed the capsules in water and the stored in a
air tight container
Molding –
In the second method, isolated somatic
embryos are mixed in a temperature-
dependent gel such as gel-rite and placed in
the well of a micro- titer plate and its forms
gel when temperature is cooled down