## 3 Results
### Seed Priming Promotes Morphological Indices of Eggplant
The AGE treatments (100 and 200 \(\mathrm{\SIUnitSymbolMicro\mathrm{g}}\) mL\({}^{-1}\)) resulted in an increase in the root lengths, however, the highest concentration i.e., 300 \(\mathrm{\SIUnitSymbolMicro\mathrm{g}}\)mL\({}^{-1}\) inhibited the root lengths of the seedlings. Similar effects were observed in the seedlings treated with SA. \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c c} \hline \hline
**Treatments** & **Shoot Length** & **Aerial Part** & **Aerial Part Dry** & **Root Length** & **Root Fresh** & **Root Dry** \\  & **(mm)** & **Fresh Weight** & **Weight (mg** & **(mm)** & **Weight (mg** \\  & & **(mg Plant\({}^{-1}\))** & **Plant\({}^{-1}\))** & **Plant\({}^{-1}\))** & **Plant\({}^{-1}\))** \\ \hline \multicolumn{6}{c}{Teatments} \\ \hline Control & 8.53 \(\pm\) 0.38c & 10.83 \(\pm\) 0.51d6 & 0.488 \(\pm\) 0.025d & 7.81 \(\pm\) 0.94 cd & 3.47 \(\pm\) 0.40d & 0.243 \(\pm\) 0.011d \\ AGE (100) & 10.09 \(\pm\) 0.47b & 12.90 \(\pm\) 0.60b & 0.606 \(\pm\) 0.029a & 10.37 \(\pm\) 0.55b & 4.87 \(\pm\) 0.30 ab & 0.325 \(\pm\) 0.030b \\ AGE (200) & 11.11 \(\pm\) 0.43a & 13.83 \(\pm\) 0.45a & 0.659 \(\pm\) 0.033a & 12.81 \(\pm\) 1.34a & 5.54 \(\pm\) 0.43a & 0.388 \(\pm\) 0.021a \\ AGE (300) & 8.76 \(\pm\) 0.52c & 10.57 \(\pm\) 0.51e & 0.469 \(\pm\) 0.030d & 6.80 \(\pm\) 0.72d & 3.41 \(\pm\) 0.29d & 0.230 \(\pm\) 0.017d \\ MeJA & 10.36 \(\pm\) 0.57 ab & 12.09 \(\pm\) 0.63 bc & 0.547 \(\pm\) 0.028b & 8.79 \(\pm\) 0.67 bc & 4.32 \(\pm\) 0.25 bc & 0.294 \(\pm\) 0.009 bc \\ SA & 10.07 \(\pm\) 0.64b & 11.65 \(\pm\) 0.55 cd & 0.528 \(\pm\) 0.03 bc & 7.43 \(\pm\) 1.14 cd & 3.88 \(\pm\) 0.36 cd & 0.288 \(\pm\) 0.00\% \\ \hline \multicolumn{6}{c}{Priming Durations} \\ \hline
4 h & 8.62 \(\pm\) 0.49c & 10.47 \(\pm\) 0.56c & 0.442 \(\pm\) 0.029c & 7.88 \(\pm\) 0.84b & 3.61 \(\pm\) 0.34c & 0.253 \(\pm\) 0.017c \\
8 h & 9.96 \(\pm\) 0.51b & 11.96 \(\pm\) 0.59b & 0.564 \(\pm\) 0.027b & 8.52 \(\pm\) 0.87b & 4.27 \(\pm\) 0.33b & 0.292 \(\pm\) 0.010b \\
12 h & 10.89 \(\pm\) 0.52a & 13.51 \(\pm\) 0.48a & 0.643 \(\pm\) 0.030a & 10.61 \(\pm\) 0.98a & 4.87 \(\pm\) 0.34a & 0.339 \(\pm\) 0.021a \\ \hline \multicolumn{6}{c}{F-Test} \\ \hline Concentrations (C) & *** & *** & *** & *** & *** & *** \\ Priming Durations (P) & *** & *** & *** & *** & *** \\ C x P & ** & *** & *** & *** & *** & *** \\ \hline \multicolumn{6}{c}{Values are expressed as the mean \(\pm\) SE (\(n=20\)); different letters indicate significant differences between means within columns at \(p<0.05\) (LSD). Ck (distilled water), AGE (aqueous garlic extracts, 100, 200, and 300 \(\mu\)g mL\({}^{-1}\)), MeJA (0.05 mM) and SA (0.5 mM), whereas 4, 8-, and 12-h are priming durations. Data in the treatment section represent the mean data for the particular treatment at the applied priming durations (4, 8, and 12 h), whereas, the data in the priming durations represent the mean data of the particular priming duration observed for the applied treatments to the seeds. *, **, ***, significant at 5, 1, and 0.1% level, respectively.  
\end{table} 
Table 1: Effect of treatments and priming durations on morphological parameters of eggplant seedlings. Figure 2: The interaction effects of various priming conditions on the morphological parameters of eggplant. **(a,b)** Shoot and root length, **(c,d)** Fresh weight of aerial part and roots, **(e,f)** Dry weight of aerial part and roots. CK (Distilled water), A1, A2, and A3 (AGE 100, 200, and 300 \(\mu\)g mL\({}^{-1}\)), MJ (MeJA 0.05 mM) and SA (Salicylic acid 0.5 mM), whereas 4, 8-, and 12-h are priming durations. Bars represent mean and standard errors (\(n=20\)). Data were subjected to analysis of variance (ANOVA) and LSD (\(p=0.05\)). Means followed by same letters have no significant difference. When the seeds were primed for 12 h, significant effects were observed on the fresh weights (17.4 mg for aerial parts and 7.66 mg for roots) in the seedlings treated with 200 \(\upmu\)g mL\({}^{-1}\), which compared to the control (12.7 mg for aerial parts and 4.02 mg for root), was at the highest level of significance.