Accelerated aging test in niger seeds

Abstract

Niger is a promising oilseed species for biodiesel production but there is no much information about the physiological potential of its seeds. Thus, the aim was to adapt the methodologies of accelerated aging test on six lots of niger seeds. The test was carried out by traditional and with saturated salt solution (20 and 40 g NaCl.100 mL-1) methods at 41 and 45 °C for 24, 48, 72 and 96 hours. After the decay period, the seeds were submitted to the germination test, proceeding to an evaluation on the seventh day after sowing, counting the normal seedlings percentage. A completely randomized design with four replications of 50 seeds was used and the means were compared by Tukey’s test. The accelerated aging test was correlated with seedling emergence and provided lots classification in at least two levels of vigor. For the accelerated aging test, the method with 20 g NaCl.100 mL-1 at 41 °C for 24 hours is recommend. The traditional method is not suitable because it provides water content variation between samples above what is tolerable.