Seeds of Rio Tibagi, Turrialba - 4 and EMPASC - 201 cultivars of bean seeds (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) were artificially aged by storage in sealed plastic jars at 16% of moisture content and 35oC. Seeds were removed from storage at six days intervals to obtain different vigor levels. The samples were submitted to standard germination, fírst count germination, seedling vigor classification, cool germination test, acceierated aging test, seedling growth iength, aminoacids leakage and field emergence. Standard germination, first count germination and cool germination test tended to overestimate the field emergence, while the accelerated aging test tended to underestimate it. Accelerated aging tests and aminoacid ieakage - 4 h test were not only the most sensitives to differentiate the quality level among seed samples, but also the best correlated with field emergence.