The evaluation of the seed vigor has been a fundamental tool of quality control program and the accelerated aging test an important procedure for that. This work was carried out in order to search for specific methodologies of evaluation of seed vigor, in laboratory, based on the accelerated aging test. The research was conducted using six seed lots of corn and soybean species, with commercially accepted quality patterns (germination). The prior established conditions for aging were 42ºC/96h and 45ºC/72h for corn and 41ºC/48 and 72h and 42ºC/48 and 72h for soybean. For each combination of temperature and aging periods, the seeds were placed into plastic boxes (gerbox), with 40mL of distilled water, distributed on the screen, using single layer and based on the seed weight. For the aging, two chamber types, BOD and water jacketed were used. The moisture content and germination of seed lots, after aging, were determined. The water uptake considering the combinations of temperature/exposure period, the two chamber types and the two procedures of determining seed moisture content was higher when the seeds were conditioned in a single layer compared to weight (constant mass). For the corn, the combination of 45ºC/72h with the conditioning of the seeds in only layer was the most efficient method for the separation of the lots with relationship to the vigor. For soybean, the combination 42ºC/48h was more efficient in the separation of the lots, not having interference of the method of conditioning of the seeds, in the screen. Considering the results it can be concluded that the single layer distribution should be used for corn and soybean and the BOD chambers should also be used for accelerated aging test for both species.
vigor; accelerated aging; soybean; corn
