Envelhecimento acelerado na avaliação da qualidade fisiológica de sementes de Ricinus communis L.

Abstract

The increase in the demand for seeds of castor bean in Brazil comes unchaining a great interest in tests that make possible the differentiation of lots of superior quality. Amongst the available tests, the accelerated aging is one of the most studied and recommended one for seeds of diverse crops. We used six seed lots IAC-226, and the quality assessed by the initial water content, germination, first counting of germination, plantlets emergence and emergence speed index. The seeds were submitted to accelerated aging test, adapted to temperatures 40 and 42 °C for periods of 48 and 60 hours in a completely randomized design with four repetitions. The accelerated aging was efficient for physiological potential evaluation of castor bean seeds, IAC-226 cultivar, with a temperature of 42 °C for 60 hours, the most appropriate procedure for classifying lots into different vigor levels.