This study was carried out to investigate the effects of the Korean Safflower(Carthamus tinctorius L.) seed powder and its water & ethanol extracts on bone metabolism during the recovery of rib-fracture induced by surgical operation in rats. Male Sprague-Dawley rats, 10 weeks old weighing about 320g, were divided into 9 groups after arrival: the 10d control(AIN-76 semipurifed diet), 10d safflower seed powder (10d SS-powder), 10d safflower seed ethanol extract(10d SS-EtOH), 10d safflower seed water extract(10d SS-H2O), the 20d control(AIN-76 semipurifed diet), 20d safflower seed powder(20d SS-powder), 20d safflower seen ethanol extract (20d SS-EtOH), 20d safflower seed water extract(20d SS-H2O), the 20d sham-operation(20d sham). The levels of all supplements were 5% in diet which is based on ray material weight. They were fed experimental diets for 10 days before the rib fracture operation and for 10 or 20 days more days after operation. A number 9 rib was fractured surgically and sham-operation was also performed. After the rib-fracture operation, rats were sacrificed on the 10th or the 20th day after operation. The body weight were decreased after operation in all rib-fractured groups but recovered gradually thereafter. The fractured sections of SS-EtOH group and SS-H2O group were more strongly adhered and more rapidly repaired than those of control groups. More detailed effects of the supplementation safflower seed powder and its extracts can be summarized as follows. 1) In callus formation, the portion of hyaline cartilage was notably higher in safflower seed groups than in control group at the 10th day after rib-fracture. SS-H2O group had the highest portion of trabecular bone at the 10th day after rib-fracture. More hyaline cartilage was observed in all safflower groups than in control group at the 20th day after rib-fracture. 2) The Bone resorption was also occurred more rapidly in SS-powder group and SS-H2O group than in other groups as indicated by a large number of osteolclast cells observed. It