How to Prepare a Saturated Salt Solution to Dry Seeds

Lisa Hill – National Laboratory for Genetic Resources Preservation (USDA-ARS)

Drying seeds to appropriate relative humidity is the first step to long term seed storage. NLGRP and CPC recommend drying seeds to 25-35% relative humidity at room temperature. One way to acheive specific relative humidities is to use saturated salt solutions. Here, Lisa shows the steps of creating a saturated salt solution from Magnesium Chloride Hexahydrate (Cl₂H₂MgO₆) or Potassium Acetate (CH₃CO₂K). She also demonstrates the equipment needed to create dessication chambers of various sizes.