Temperatura e período de exposição de sementes de milho no teste de envelhecimento acelerado

The accelerated aging test (AA) is considered as efficient to be included in quality control programs of corn seeds. Even so, for routine use, information must be improved for standardization of the chamber temperature and seed aging period. The objective of this research was to evaluate the effect of the combination of two temperatures (42 and 45oC) and two aging periods (72 and 96h) on the results of the accelerated aging test for corn seeds. Samples of seed lots of six corn genotypes, submitted or not to fungicide treatment, with high and similar germination within each genotype, were tested for accelerated aging (42oC and 45oC for 72h and 96h). A complete randomized design with the treatments arranged as a factorial (seed lots vs. germination before and after seed aging) and four replicates was used. Corn seed lots showed different sensitivity to accelerated aging, depending on the genotype and fungicide treatment. The 72 h aging period at 45oC detected the best physiological quality seed lots of all the evaluated genotypes, independently of fungicide treatment. The aging period determined the final seed moisture content after accelerated aging.