The objective of this work was to study soybean (Glycine max L. Merrill) seed alterations produced by deterioration using different vigor tests. Soybean seeds of different cultivars were used in 1997 and 1998, which were submitted to standard germination test and the vigor tests: accelerated aging; electric conductivity; controlled deterioration and tetrazolium. The controlled deterioration with an elevation of the seed humidity to 22%, showed to be a better indicator of the diminishing of soybean seed vigor than the accelerated aging. The electric conductivity in individual seeds would be considered a good vigor test to detect the alterations produced in the cytoplasmic membranes in an early stage of the seed deterioration. The tetrazolium test by the evaluation of the different kinds of injuries suffered by the seeds, depends on the place where the seed is damaged not on the kind of injury suffered by the seed.
germination; seed longevity; deterioration; senescence
