Under a laminar flow hood, seeds were soaked in 70% alcohol for one minute, then immersed for 30 min in 7% calcium hypochlorite (with three drops of tween 20) or in sodium hypochlorite with 2.4% active chlorine (containing three drops of tween 20). Seeds were then rinsed five times with sterile distilled water, and left in sterile distilled water for 72 h. At the end of the soaking time, the seeds were removed from the water and disinfected a second time under the same conditions as before, this time with an immersion time of 15 min in 7% calcium hypochlorite or in sodium hypochlorite with 2.4% active chlorine. The seeds were then rinsed five times with sterile distilled water and stripped of their shells and integument to release the kernels (Figure 2).