Post-harvest quality of safflower flower stems at different pre-cooling periods and preservative solutions

Safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.), belonging to the Asteraceae family, originating in Asia, is considered one of the oldest agricultural crops, with records dating back to 4.500 BC, extraction of food, medicinal and biodiesel oil, animal feed, and floral stems for ornamentation. In Brazil, cultivation is still relatively new, requiring studies regarding the post-harvest of its floral stems, which have an ornamental character due to their beauty, rusticity and versatility of use. The objective of the present work was to evaluate the post-harvest quality and durability of safflower flower stems treated with different pre-cooling periods and preservative solutions. The experiment was conducted with a completely randomized design, organized in a 3x7 factorial scheme (pre-cooling periods and preservative solutions), with four replications, and each experimental unit consisted of five flower stems. The average diameters of the inflorescences and stems were evaluated, as well as the durability of a healthy and marketable aspect. It was observed that the durability of the safflower flower stems was favored with pre-cooling, and when combined with different preservative solutions, they present up to 12 days of pot life. Recommended treatment is a combination of preservative solution containing distilled water + 20 mg L-1 of citric acid and a pre-cooling period of 24 h.