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Short term soaking of seeds does not appear to be detrimental to seed viability and may provide a means of testing seed viability non-destructively. Seeds of corn (Zea mays L.) and rice (Oryza sativa L.), differing in viability, were soaked for 0.5, 1, 2 and 4 hr in distilled water at room temperature. Analyses of pH, protein/polypeptides (BCA assay and absorbance at 280 nm), and potassium (and other metals), were done on individual seed leachates. After each time period seeds were germinated for 7 d to determine viability. For both corn and rice, pH remained constant between 0.5 and 4 hr of soaking. Protein concentration gradually increased during the 4 hr soak in both corn and rice, but varied with seed lot. Potassium was the most common metal excreted and increased 3 to 4 fold between 0.5 and 4 hr of soaking. Although seed to seed variability in any given lot was high, in general, low viability seeds lost more cellular constituents than high viability seeds.