This work was carried out with the objective of testing the efficiency of the hydric stress test on the evaluation of physiological quality of peppers (Capsicum annuum L.) seeds. Five lots of seeds of the cultivar Casca Dura lkeda, were analysed by the following tests: germination, first count, cold without soil, accelerated aging, electrical conductivity, field emergency, and seedling length under hydric stress at 0, -0.3, -0.6 and -0.9MPa potentials. The trials were carried out at the seed lab and experimental field of EMBRAPA-CPATSA, Petrolina - PE, in a completely randomized design with four replications. The results showed that the germination test under hydric of -0.3MPa can be used to estimate the performance of peppers seeds.