ABSTRACT
In assessing the quality of seed lots, the vigor tests are complementary to the germination test and they identify differences in the degree of deterioration of the lots. For safflower, there is little information regarding these tests. In this way, the intention of this study was to adapt the accelerated aging test methodology to assess the physiological potential of safflower seeds (Carthamus tinctorius). For this purpose, 12 seed lots were evaluated for thousand-seed weight, germination, first germination count, seedling emergence test (emergence percentage, emergence speed index, relative emergence frequency and the initial, final and mean times) and accelerated aging. For the accelerated aging test, the traditional and saline methods were used. For this, the samples were conditioned in periods of 0, 8, 16, 24, 32 and 48 hours at 42 °C. Afterwards, they were submitted to the germination test, with evaluation of normal seedlings on the 3rd day. The 12 lots were evaluated within each period, in independent experiments. The data were submitted to analysis of variance and the means were compared using the Scott-Knott clustering method at 5% probability. In the traditional accelerated aging test the periods of 16, 24, 32 and 48 hours were more efficient in differentiating the lots in vigor levels, as they stratified the lots in three classes and the time of 8 hour classified the lots in two levels of vigor. In the accelerated saline aging method the time 32 hours were more efficient since it ranked seed lots at three levels of vigor and the periods of 8, 16 and 24 hour stratified the lots in two levels. In results obtained by the principal component analysis it was verified. The variables traditional accelerated aging for 24 and 32 hours correlated with emergence in the field. Therefore, the traditional accelerated aging test at 42 °C for 24 hours are promising for evaluating the physiological quality of safflower seeds.