Methodology of the accelerated aging test in tiny tomato seeds (solanum lycopersicum var. cerasiforme)

The objective of this study was to study whether the variations in the performance of the accelerated aging test, in terms of exposure time and temperature involved in the test methodology, performed in the traditional way or in saturated salt solution, would result in an efficient combination to evaluate the physiological quality of seeds tiny tomato (Solanum lycopersicum var. cerasiforme). The seeds were submitted to the tests of total germination, germination speed index, first germination count, substrate emergence, seedling length, seedling dry matter, cold test, electrical conductivity and variations in the conduction of the accelerated aging test. The treatments (36, 38, 40 and 42 ºC) x exposure time (24, 36, 48 and 72 hours) x procedures (traditional and saline) were used, with four replications each lot. The averages were compared by the Tukey test at 5% probability. The simple correlation coefficient (r) between the accelerated aging test results and the emergence test of substrate seedlings was also determined. The traditional accelerated aging test in the combinations of 24 hours at 36 °C and the accelerated aging test with saline in the combinations of 72 hours at 36 °C showed sensitivity for the evaluation of the physiological potential of tiny tomato seeds. For both accelerated aging tests, the temperature of 36 °C was efficient for the evaluation of the physiological potential of tiny tomato seeds.