TITLE:
Accelerated Aging in Tomato Seeds
AUTHORS:
Andreia da Silva Almeida, Cristiane Deuner, Carolina Terra Borges, Geri Eduardo Meneghello, Lilian Madruga de Tunes, Francisco Amaral Villela
KEYWORDS:
Lycopersicum esculentum, Germination, Vigor, Physiological Quality
JOURNAL NAME:
American Journal of Plant Sciences,
Vol.5 No.11,
May
21,
2014
ABSTRACT: The tomato plant (Lycopersicum esculentum L.) is a
perennial, shrubby-like vegetable with high reproductive ability, which behaves
like a typical annual crop. The aim of this work was to select suitable tests
to assess the quality of different lots of tomato seeds. Six batches of tomato
seeds were assessed for parameter values: moisture content, germination, first
count, accelerated aging (standard: 40 mL of water; saline solution: 11 g
NaCl/100mL of water and saturated saline solution: 40 g NaCl/100mL water) and
seedling emergence in soil. Accelerated aging through the use of saturated salt
solution for 48 h or 72 h at 41°C resulted in an alternative and
efficient way to evaluate the physiological quality of tomato seeds. The
standard accelerated aging test was less efficient and exhibited higher
moisture variation.