Higgs Boson wrote:

Why fermenting? Straight question.

Fermenting is reputed to kill some pathogens.
It definitely breaks down the gel sac around each seed, making them much
easier to handle once washed and dried.
The Seed Saver's Exchange farm in Iowa has a huge German-built machine to
extract tomato and other seed (think a Foley on steroids), but they still
add water and ferment the tomato seeds for a few days.


Gary Woods AKA K2AHC- PGP key on request, or at home.earthlink.net/~garygarlic
Zone 5/6 in upstate New York, 1420' elevation. NY WO G