The objective of this work was to evaluate the use of the Lercafé test for estimating the germination and characterizing different types of injuries in coffee seeds. Seeds of arabica coffee cultivar Catuaí IAC 44 were submitted to the following treatments: nondamaged seeds, heat damage (at 40 and 60ºC), and bug damage. Seeds were assessed by the tests of germination and Lercafé. The germination results estimated by Lercafé test had high correlation with the results from the germination test for the two types of injuries. The heat damage, by drying seeds at high temperatures, was characterized by scattered green stains, partially or totally covering the seed endosperm. A sunken lesion surrounded by a green ring characterized the damage by coffee berry borer. Lercafé test is efficient to estimate the germination and to characterize the injuries by heat and coffee berry borer, in coffee seeds.
Coffea arabica; Hypothenemus hampei; sodium hypochlorite; germination test
