The objective of this research was to evaluate the effect of temperature on the reduction in the soaking period of soybean seeds for the electric conductivity test. Seeds were harvested at the R8 stage and 15, 30 and 45 days after R8 and stored in a cold room until physiological quality tests were performed. The electric conductivity test was carried out using the traditional methodology, with four replications of 50 seeds imbibed in water at 25oC for 24 hours, and two other methodologies consisting of 20 replications of 10 seeds imbibed for 10, 30, 60 and 120 minutes at 32oC or 40oC. The results indicated that the increase in the soaking temperature decreases the soaking period to identify soybean seeds with different vigor levels; the electric conductivity test at 32 or 40oC for 10, 30, 60 and 120 minutes is efficient for rapid evaluation of soybean seed quality and the soaking period of 10 minutes at 32 or 40oC already permits classification of seed lots according to theirs vigor level by the electric conductivity test.
Glicine max; vigor; soaking period
