Effect of Seed Size on Seed Germination and Growth Characteristics in Safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.)

Abstract

: In order to evaluate the effect of seed weight on different aspect of safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) seed germination and growth characteristics. Quantity of sinapine leaked from seed was greater as the viability of seeds was dropped by the time elapsed of seed aging model and long storage condition in safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.). The cultivar of safflower was Jin-Sun and the seeds that are separated to three different weights of small, middle, and large were used in this experiment. Large seeds revealed the highest germination percent, coleoptiles fresh weight, coleoptiles dry weight, radicle fresh weight and 1000 seed weights than other seed weight. Seed weight had little effect on yield while seed number exerted a positive influence. Interestingly, yield per plant and its major components, number of capsules and capsule weights, revealed a negligible relationship with oil content.