Abstract
Although the concept of seed viability is well known, there is considerable disagreement and confusion as to its precise meaning. To most seed technologists and commercial dealers, viability means that a seed is capable of germinating and producing a “normal” seedling. Therefore, it is used synonymously with germination capacity. In this sense, a given seed is either viable or nonviable, depending on its ability to germinate and produce a normal seedling; thus, only seed lots representing populations of seeds may exhibit levels of viability.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
General References
Association of Official Seed Analysts. 1970. Tetrazolium testing handbook for agricultural seeds. Association of Official Seed Analysts Handbook No. 29, ed. D. F. Grabe.
Association of Official Seed Analysts. 1978. Rules for Testing Seeds. Proceedings of the Association of Official Seed Analysts 60(2):39.
Association of Official Seed Analysts. 1979. Radiographic Analysis of Agricultural and Forest Tree Seed: Handbook No. 31, by E. Belcher and J. Bozzo.
Brücher, H. 1948. Eine Schnellme node zur Bestimmung der Keimfahigkeit von Samen. Physiologia Plantarum 1:343–358.
Eidmann, F. E. 1938. Eine neue biochemische Methode zur Erkennung des Aussaatwertes von Samen, Proceedings of the International Seed Testing Association 10:203–211.
Fick, G. L., and R. P. Hibbard. 1925. A method for determining seed viability by electrical conductivity measurements. Michigan Academy of Science, Arts, and Letters 5:95–103.
Flemion, F. 1936. A rapid method for determining the germinative power of peach seeds. Contributions from Boyce Thompson Institute 8:2154–293.
Flemion, F. 1938. A rapid method for determining the viability of dormant seeds. Contributions from Boyce Thompson Institute 9:339–351.
Flemion, F. 1941. Further studies on the rapid determination of the germinative capacity of seeds. Contributions from Boyce Thompson Institute 11:455–464.
Flemion, F. 1948. Reliability of the excised embryo method as a rapid test for determining the germinative capacity of dormant seeds. Contributions from Boyce Thompson Institute 15: 229–241.
French, R. C., J. A. Thompson, and C. H. Kingsolver. 1962. Indoxyl acetate as an indicator of cracked seed coats of white beans and other light colored legume seeds. Proceedings of the American Society for Horticultural Science 80:377–386.
Gadd, I. 1950. Biochemical tests for seed germination. Proceedings of the International Seed Testing Association 16:235–253.
Gadd, I., and A. Kjaer. 1940. Uber die Verwendbarkeit der Selenund Indigokarmin-methoden bei der Prufung von frost-und fusariumgeschadigten Getreide. Proceedings of the International Seed Testing Association 12:140–149.
Hardin, E. E. 1980. Personal communication.
Hasegawa, K. 1935. On the determination of vitality in seed by reagents. Proceedings of the International Seed Testing Association 7:148–153.
International Seed Testing Association. 1985. Handbook on tetrazolium testing. Zurich: ISTA. 72 pp.
Lakon, G. 1928. Ist die Bestimmung der Keimfahigkeit der Samen ohne Keimversuch moglich. Angewandte Botanik (Zeitschrift der Vereinigung fur angewandte Botanik) 10:470.
Leggatt, C. W. 1929–1930. Catalase activity as a measure of seed viability. Scientific Agriculture (Ottawa) 10:73–110.
McDonald, M. B., Jr., and D. O. Wilson. 1979. An assessment of the standardization and ability of the ASA-610 to rapidly predict potential soybean germination. Journal of Seed Technology 4(2):1–12.
McHargue, J. S. 1920. The significance of the peroxidase reaction with reference to the viability of seeds. Journal of the American Chemical Society 42:612–615.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1999 Springer Science+Business Media New York
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Copeland, L.O., McDonald, M.B. (1999). Seed Viability Testing. In: Principles of Seed Science and Technology. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-1783-2_5
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-1783-2_5
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
Print ISBN: 978-1-4613-5719-3
Online ISBN: 978-1-4615-1783-2
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive