Evaluation of pea seed vigor by the accelerated aging and controlled deterioration tests

Vigor tests were developed to detect differences in seed lots due to limitations of germination tests. The objective of this work was to investigate the efficiency of the accelerated aging and controlled deterioration tests to assess the vigor of pea seed lots. The water content and physiological quality of five pea lots cv. Aragon were determined using the germination and vigor tests (first count, electrical conductivity, seedling emergence and speed of emergence index, accelerated aging with the traditional system and with saturated NaCl solution at 41ºC for 48, 72 and 96 hours; and controlled deterioration test with 15, 20, 25% water content for 48, 72 and 96 hours at 42ºC). The accelerated aging test with saturated NaCl solution for 96 hours was efficient to categorize pea seeds lots. Combinations of 20% water for 72 hours and 25% water for 48 and 72 hours were efficient to categorize pea seed lots using the controlled deterioration test

Vigor of lentil seeds evaluated by the tests of accelerated aging and controlled deterioration / Vigor de sementes de lentilha avaliadas pelos testes de envelhecimento acelerado e deterioração controlada

The objective of this work was to investigate the efficiency of the accelerated aging and controlled deterioration tests in the evaluation of lentil seeds’ vigor. Water content was determined and the physiological quality was evaluated using germination and vigor tests (first count, seedling emergence, indices of germination speed and emergence, accelerated aging test with traditional method and with NaCl saturated solution at 41ºC and 45ºC for 24, 48, 72 hours and controlled deterioration with 20% and 24% water content for 24, 48 and 72 hours at 45ºC) in seven lots of lentil seeds cv Silvina. The use of traditional accelerated aging test and the NaCl saturated solution method at 41ºC for 48 hours were efficient to classify lentil seeds’ lots. The combination of 20% and 24% water for 48 hours exposure and of 20% water for 72 hours exposure were efficient to classify the lentil seed lots by the controlled deterioration test. 

Electrical conductivity of coffee seeds in function of the number of seeds and imbibing period / Condutividade elétrica de sementes de café em função do número de sementes e período de embebição

Coffee farming is one of the most expressive agricultural activities in Brazil. Coffee is a perennial crop with recalcitrant seeds, therefore, seed germination is irregular and lengthy. A fast evaluation of the quality coffee seeds is of an extreme importance. Thus, the objective of this work was to evaluate electrical conductivity of coffee seeds in function of the number of seeds and the imbibing period. To perform the experiments coffee seeds from four cultivars were used: IPR98, IPR100, IPR105 and IPR106. In the initial characterization the water content, the first and the last counting of the germination test and the accelerated aging of the seeds were determined. To determine seed vigor in a fast and precisely manner, the bulk electrical conductivity test was used, using replicates with 25 and 50 seeds at a temperature of 25 oC for the evaluation periods of 2, 4, 6, 8, 12 and 24 hours. A completely random design was used for the experiments. The electrical conductivity test is efficient to evaluate coffee seed vigor. Cultivar IPR98 showed more deteriorated seeds. The test performed with 25 seeds showed differences between cultivars with 24 hours of imbibing period. Using 50 seeds it is possible to evaluate the physiological quality of the cultivars starting at 4 hours of imbibing period.