The quality of the seed used in the process of agricultural production is one of the main factors to be considered for the implantation of the culture, having consensus between all the segments, on the importance of the vigor of the seeds and the necessity to evaluate it. This research had the purpose of studying proccedings for controlled deterioration test, to verify their sensitivity for identifying different vigor levels of arugula seed, cv. 'Cultivada' and 'Gigante', using five lots of seeds for each. The seeds were subjected to the determination of water content and tests of germination, first germination, emergence, and to verify the efficiency in identifying different levels of vigor, were studied variations in the controlled deterioration test (seed moisture content of 18, 21 and 24%, at 45oC for 24 and 48 hours). The experiment was arranged in completely randomized design and the results were submitted to analysis of variance and means were compared by Tukey test at 5% probability. The results obtained for the controlled deterioration test showed that there was no relation with the initial assessments of the physiological potential, especially for testing of emergency. It was concluded that under the conditions tested, this test was not sensitive enough to assess the potential physiologic arugula, for both cultivars.
arugula; vegetable; potential physiological
