Determination of Hydrogen Peroxide Content and Antioxidant Enzyme Activities in Safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) Seeds After Accelerated Aging Test

Abstract

Safflower is an important oleiferous crop species in the world. Aging tests are used to simulate cell damage occurring during the long term storage of seeds. In the present study, accelerated aging (AA) test was employed to investigate response of antioxidant enzymes in safflower. Four genotypes of safflower, previously classified as aging resistant (Bayer-6 and Bayer-12) and sensitive (Olas and Linas) based on AA test, were used as seed materials and AA treatments at 43 °C consisted of 5 different times (0, 48, 72, 96 and 120 h). Variance analysis were used and means were separated according to significance levels, and correlations were calculated between hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) content, superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) activities. The H2O2 content, CAT, SOD and peroxidase (POD) activities were measured in control and AA treated seeds. Genotype, time and genotype x time interactions were all significant. While H2O2 content and SOD activity increased with AA time, CAT activity decreased in all genotypes throughout the experiment. POD did not show regular increase or decrease, its activity was specific to genotypes and time. Correlations between CAT activity and H2O2 content were significant negative for all genotypes, but between SOD activity and H2O2 content was positively correlated in AA treated seeds.