Eleven chickpea seed lots were subjected to the artificial aging test at 42°C and 100% relative humidity for periods of 0, 24, 48, 72 and 96 hours. The objective was to determine the exposure time that best discriminate the lots for the germination response after aging. The 96 hours period was too long, and the 48 hours period was inefficient; 24 and 72 hours were both similar in the lots classifying as to the seeds vigor levels. However, the 72 hours period was the best to discriminate lots whose germination values were over than 82%.
chickpea; Cicer arietinum L.; seeds; artificial aging; vigor