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

Abstract

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.