Adjustments in the tetrazolium test methodology for assessing the physiological quality of chickpea seeds

Abstract

Quick tests are essential tools to evaluate seed quality. The objective of this study was to adapt the methodology of tetrazolium test, by identifying the most suitable pre-conditioning parameters of imbibition temperature and duration, and tetrazolium solution concentrations, in order to assess the physiological quality of chickpea seeds. Also, this work proposed the separation of lots in classes, according to the viability and vigor of the seeds. Three lots of chickpeas (lot 1 - BRS Aleppo C1, lot 2 - BRS Aleppo basic, and lot 3 - Cicero) were evaluated. They were analyzed according to three combinations of imbibition temperature and duration (41 °C for 4 hours, 41 ºC for 6 hours, and 30 ºC for 18 hours) and two tetrazolium concentrations (0.1% and 0.5%). The imbibition at 41 °C for 4 or 6 hours, and at 30 ºC for 18 hours allowed clear visualization of injuries in the seeds after immersion in 0.1% tetrazolium solution. The intense coloration formed by the 0.5% solution of this salt prevented the differentiation of the types of damage. In addition, it was possible to separate the seeds into four classes: class I (viable and vigorous, without damages), class II (viable and vigorous, with superficial injuries), class III (viable and non-vigorous), and class IV (non-viable).

Physiological quality of mechanically harvested chickpea seeds

“…The tetrazolium test was not efficient in differentiating the lots' physiological quality (combinations of rotor rotations and harvester speed), so that not even the assessments of viability and vigor showed differences for these conditions. This test characterizes as a visual test, thus subjected to subjective evaluations, despite having recent described a methodology for the studied species (PARAÍSO et al, 2019). Further studies for the adequacy of the methodology are necessary to obtain satisfactory results as those obtained for other crops, such as soybean, in which it is a standard test, extremely sensitive, and used regularly.…”

“…The location of the damage was also considered for the classification of seeds in vigor levels. We used the classification suggested by Paraíso et al (2019), seeds of classes I, II, and III (TZ viab) were considered viable and only classes I and II were considered to be vigorous (TZ vig).…”

Environmental factors affecting germination of Mimosa ephedroides (Fabaceae), an endemic shrub from Monte Desert, Argentina

“…The Tetrazolium viability test is a useful tool for seed quality determinations. Due to lack of seed testing procedures for some native species, to adjust concentrations of the agent used, staining time, or seed pre-treatment, turns necessary (34). The chosen methodology resulted to be adequate for viability assessment of M. ephedroides seeds.…”

Viabilidade De Sementes De Castanha-Do-Brasil Pelo Teste De Tetrazólio

“…Diversos estudos com espécies agrícolas e hortícolas permitiram adequar procedimentos padrão de viabilidade de sementes pelo teste de tetrazólio (FRANÇA-NETO et al, 1998;SILVA et al, 2013;REZENDE et al, 2015;RODRIGUES et al, 2018;PARAÍSO et al, 2019) e entre outros. Na área florestal, apesar dos trabalhos desenvolvidos com espécies nativas Copaifera langsdorffii e Schizolobium parahyba (FOGAÇA et al, 2011) Ceiba speciosa (LAZAROTTO et al, 2011), Enterolobium contortisiliquum (NOGUEIRA et al, 2014), Tabebuia roseoalba (ABBADE; TAKAKI, 2014), Jatropha curcas (SILVA et al, 2017), Platymiscium floribundum, Lonchocarpus muehlbergianus e Acacia polyphylla (MASULLO et al, 2017), Libidibia ferrea (CARVALHO et al, 2017) e entre outros, ainda carece de procedimentos adequados para sementes de outras espécies, sobretudo, as recalcitrantes e de germinação lenta.…”