The electrical conductivity test (EC) has potential to be used in quality control by seeds companies, but some factors can affect the results of the EC. Thus research was carried out with the purpose of studying the effects of seed size, imbibition period, imbibition temperature and sample size on EC for evaluating peanut seed vigor. Four experiments were carried out and treatments were set in a completely randomized design. Three seeds lots with three different sizes (sieves 18, 20 and 22) were imbibed for different periods of time (3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18, 21, 24, 27 and 30 hours). Four replicates with a variable number of seeds (25 or 50) and temperature (20 or 25ºC) were also tested. The EC was read by conductivimeter and the results were expressed as µS.cm-1.g-1. Under tested conditions, it was concluded that: peanut seed size affected the results of EC; the seed imbibition period can be reduced to 3 hours for the evaluation of physiological seed quality; the imbibition temperature of 25ºC was more promising than 20ºC, especially when used with 50 pure seeds.
Arachis hypogaea; vigor; physiological quality
