Fruit dehiscence is an important evolutionary and agronomic trait. For quantifying and comparing the exact fruit dehiscence capability between individual plants, the random impact test has been described (Morgan et al., 1998; Bruce et al., 2002; Arnaud et al., 2010). Here, we describe the random impact test optimized to measure dehiscence capability in the Brassicaceae plant Lepidium campestre (L. campestre). However, with slight alterations regarding agitation force, agitation time, and drying conditions, the test should be applicable to a wide range of plant species with dehiscent fruits.
Lenser, T. and Theißen, G. (2014). Quantifying Fruit Dehiscence Using the Random Impact Test (RIT). Bio-protocol 4(15): e1200. DOI: 10.21769/BioProtoc.1200.