Abstract:The vigour of wampee seeds decreased rapidly as moisture content was reduced to about 40% after desiccation, or after continued storage for one year or more. Direct PEG priming could not improve but decrease the vigour of deteriorated wampee seeds,even made their germinability lost. The experiments showed that the solute leakage of wampee seeds or excised embryos increased greatly after priming. The pretreatments with ABA, Ca2+ or tea polyphenol before desiccation obviously reduced the desiccation sensitivity of seeds, and those in combination with PEG priming after desiccation could markedly increase the vigour of the seeds. In comparison with control, the short-term and high-temperature priming with Ca2+ before storage improved the vigour of seeds preserved after one year. The results showed that the pretreatments before desiccation were necessary for increasing the viability of wampee seeds.