Methodological adjustments to the tetrazolium test in coriander seeds

Abstract: The reduction in the time to perform the tetrazolium test is critical in decision making at pre and post-harvest of seeds. Thus, the objective of this study was to investigate different concentrations of the tetrazolium salt solution, temperatures, and staining times, to reduce the time for assessing the viability of coriander seeds by the tetrazolium test. The study was divided into two experiments conducted independently but sequentially. The seeds were evaluated for water content, germination, and viability in both experiments by the tetrazolium test. A completely randomized design was used, with four replications. For the tetrazolium test, the seeds were preconditioned by direct immersion in water for sixteen hours at 20 °C. In experiment I, the seeds were exposed to different concentrations of the tetrazolium salt solution (0.25; 0.5; 0.75; and 1.0%). In experiment II, different combinations of temperatures (35; 40; and 45 °C) and staining times (three, four, five, and six hours) were tested. Based on the findings, it was concluded that the best staining pattern of coriander seeds for performing the tetrazolium test is achieved by using the concentration of 0.5% tetrazolium salt solution for five hours at 40 °C.