Tetrazolium test for evaluating triticale seed viability

freshly harvested triticale seeds are usually dormant, making the immediate evaluation of the physiological potential of seed lots difficult. we evaluated different triphenyl tetrazolium chloride (ttc) test methods for rapidly determining the viability of four seed lots of x.triticosecale wittmack cultivar ipr111. the test variables were: preconditioning, (i) placing whole seeds between moistened paper towels or (ii) directly soaking the seeds in water, both procedures being conducted at 20 oc for 18 hours; post-conditioning seed preparation, (i) longitudinal bisection of the seed through the embryo with one half being stained and the other discarded or (ii) longitudinal bisection with both halves being stained; staining for three and four hours, in the dark, with 0.1%, 0.5% or 1.0% (w/v) ttc according to the preconditioning method described above, (i) both halves of each seed were placed on filter paper moistened with ttc and maintained at 40 oc or (ii) one half of each seed was immersed in 5 ml of ttc solution in a 100 ml glass beaker at 30 oc. the best results were obtained by preconditioning seeds between moistened paper towels at 20 oc for 18 hours and staining on filter paper with 1.0% (w/v) ttc for three hours at 40 oc.