Hydration speed in soybean seeds can be affected by seed coat permeability due to thickness and composition variations. The objective of the present research was to evaluate the relation between the hydration speed and seed coat thickness and lignin content in soybean of different cultivars and locations of production. Soybean seeds of four cultivars and four production locations, with their moisture content, weight of 100 seeds, mechanical damage, germination and electrical conductivity previously determined, were evaluated by their hydration speed and seed coat characteristics, that consisted of lignin content and the palisade layer, hypodermic layer, lacunary parenchyma and total thickness. A randomized complete design was used and the means were compared by the Tukey test (P<0.05) and by the simple linear correlation test (r). The hydration speed was evaluated as a factorial arrangement 4 x 8 (cultivar x time of hydration) for each production location and equations were fitted. It was concluded that the hydration speed in soybean seeds was affected by cultivar and production location and that it is correlated significantly to the lacunary parenchyma thickness.
Glycine max; lignin content; seed coat thickness; water uptake
