Brazil has many areas of pastures with Panicum maximum, being producer, consumer and exporter of its seeds. However, the quality of the produced seeds is questionable. The germination test is not efficient to evaluate de viability of Panicum maximum seeds, especially just after harvest when there are a high percentage of dormant seeds and, therefore, the evaluation by the tetrazolium test is necessary. To evaluate the more common methodologies of the tetrazolium test, four seed lots of P. maximum of the cultivar Tanzania, with different physiological qualities and dormancy intensities, were subjected to the following concentrations of the 2,3,5 triphenyl tetrazolium chloride: 1.0%, as prescribed by the International Seed Test Association - ISTA, 0.2% and 0.1% (without discharging half of the seeds). As references the germination tests were used with and without treatment to overcome dormancy. Seed viability was evaluated in an eleven-month-period. Seed viability was evaluated in a three-month-period. To suppress dormancy, seeds were stored at 42?C for 72 hours. The results of viability obtained by the tetrazolium tests did not differ from each other, regardless of the used methodology. However, the use of low tetrazolium concentrations resulted in better visualisation of the embryo structures and reduced costs when compared to the use of high concentration of the salt. The treatment to suppress dormancy was not efficient for all seeds and lowered germination when there was no more dormancy. Seed lots, which did not possess dormancy, had similar results with the germination and tetrazolium tests.
germination; dormancy; seed viability
