Adaptation of the tetrazolium test for evaluation of Ceiba speciosa seeds

Abstract

The objective of this research was to define the tetrazolium test methodology for Ceiba speciosa seeds. Two C. speciosa seeds samples were used and, for each of these, it were determinate the moisture content and germination. For the tetrazolium test it were tested two periods of tetrazolium solution exposition (three and four hours), and three tetrazolium solutions concentrations (0.1, 0.5 and 1.0%). All the treatments were submitted to the temperature of 40°C in dark. The statistical design was completely randomized, in a factorial scheme 2x2x3 (samples x periods x concentrations) with four replications of 25 seeds. The means comparison was by the Duncan test at the 0.05 level of probability and were done  correlation tests between tetrazolium and germination tests. Although the tetrazolium solution 0.1% allowed identify high percentages of viable seeds for both samples and periods, only the 0.5% concentration for four hours had a positive and significant correlation with the germination for both samples. Thus, the tetrazolium test for Ceiba speciosa seeds should be realized with the tetrazolium solution concentration of  0.5%, for four hours.