AVALIAÇÃO DA VIABILIDADE DE SEMENTES DE Brachiaria brizantha (Hochst. ex A. Rich) Stapf PELO TESTE DE TETRAZÓLIO

The Brachiaria brizantha seeds present dormancy mainly just after harvest and, therefore, the germination test is inefficient to evaluate its viability becoming necessary the evaluation with the tetrazolium test. To evaluate the more common methodologies of the tetrazolium test, four groups of the cultivar Marandu seeds, with different physiological qualities and dormancy intensities had its viability evaluated in five three months periods from May 1998 to September 1999. The tetrazolium test was carried on with the following 2,3,5 triphenyl tetrazolium chloride salt concentrations: 1,0% as prescribed by the International Seed Testing Association (ISTA), 0,2% and 0,1% (without discharging half of the seeds). As references the germination test were used with and without treatments to avoid dormancy using scarification with sulfuric acid. The results of the tests with 0,2 and 0,1% of tretazolium did not differ from the results of the ISTA recommended concentration and had easier interpretation because of better embryo structure visualization. The treatments to suppress the dormancy were not efficient for all seeds and damaged the non-dormant ones. The germination and tetrazolium tests may be considered complementary and together are efficient to evaluate the physiologic quality of Brachiaria brizantha seeds.