The saturated salt accelerated ageing (SSAA) method seems to act too leniently on carrot (Daucus carota L.), lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.), and broccoli (Brassica oleracea var. italica Plenck ) seeds germination

Abstract

The efficiency of the salt saturated accelerated ageing (SSAA) of seeds of lettuce, carrot, and broccoli, as compared to the traditional seed ageing method, was investigated. The salts employed in this investigation were KCl and NaCl. The KCl solution permitted the control of the relative humidity within the inner chamber to values around 86% and that of NaCl to values around 76%. In the traditional method, the control of the relative humidity of the air inside the inner chamber was achieved was around 45 °C and the periods of time the seeds were exposed to those conditions were of 0, 2, 24, 36, 48, 60, 72, 84, 96, 08, and 20 hours. The results were evaluated in terms of seed water content and germination. The results indicate that the saturated NaCl or KCl solutions do not seem to be methods capable of reducing the germination of carrot, lettuce, and broccoli seeds to values sufficient to allow the comparison between seed lots. On the other hand, the traditional method did reduce the germination to values potentially capable of discriminating among seed lots.Additional keywords: vigor tests.