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Safflower

Scientific classification

Kingdom: Plantae Division: Magnoliophyta Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Asterales Family: Asteraceae Genus: Carthamus Species: C. tinctorius

Binomial name

Carthamus tinctorius (Mohler, Roth, Schmidt & Boudreaux, 1967)

SAFFLOWER [safflower] Eurasian thistlelike herb ( Carthamus tinctorius ) of the family Asteraceae ( aster family). Safflower, or false saffron, has long been cultivated in S Asia and Egypt for food and medicine and as a costly but inferior substitute for the true saffron dye. In the United States, where it is sometimes called American saffron, it is more important as the source of safflower oil, which has recently come into wide use as a cooking oil. Safflower is classified in the division Magnoliophyta , class Magnoliopsida, order Asterales, family Asteraceae.

Overview:

Safflower is a broadleaf, annual oilseed crop primarily adapted to grow in the western Great Plains. In the same family as sunflower, it is a thistle-like plant with a strong central branch stem and a varying number of branches. Each branch usually has one to five flower heads and each of those heads contains  seeds. Safflower has a taproot system that can penetrate to depths of eight to  feet, making it more tolerant to drought than small grains.

Traditionally, safflower was grown for the flowers that were used in making red and yellow dyes for clothing and food preparation. Today, safflower provides three main products: oil, meal, and birdseed. Prior to the 1960s in the United States, the oil was used mostly as a base for superior quality paints. It is still used in paints and varnishes because of its non-yellowing characteristic. More recently it has also been used in infant formulas, cosmetics, and salad and cooking oils. Safflower meal is about 24 percent protein and high in fiber and is used as a protein supplement for livestock and poultry feed. Whole safflower seeds are used in the birdseed industry.

Two types of safflower oil with corresponding types of safflower varieties exist: those high in monounsaturated fatty acid (oleic) and those high in polyunsaturated fatty acid (linoleic). The safflower varieties that are high in oleic oil are used as a heat stable cooking oil to fry such food items as french fries, chips and other snack items and are also used in cosmetics, food coatings, and infant food formulations. The oil in linoleic safflower contains nearly percent linoleic acid and is used primarily for edible oil products such as salad oils and soft margarines.

There is a considerable health food market for safflower oil. High oleic safflower oil is lower in saturates and higher in monounsaturates than olive oil and is beneficial in preventing coronary artery disease. Also, monounsaturates such as oleic safflower oil tend to lower blood levels of LDL (“bad” cholesterol) without affecting HDL (“good” cholesterol). Polyunsaturated fats, such as linoleic acids, are associated with lowering blood cholesterol. Both types of oil are considered “high quality” edible oil and public awareness about this health topic has made safflower an important crop for vegetable oil.

More than  countries grow safflower, but over half is produced in India mainly for the domestic vegetable oil market. Most of the remainder of production is comprised of the United States, Mexico, Ethiopia, Argentina and Australia. California, which exports much of its oil to Japan, grows approximately  percent of the U.S. safflower production while the remaining domestic production is in North Dakota, Montana, South Dakota, Idaho, Colorado and Arizona.

Safflower gives options to farmers in a dryland crop rotation with respect to weed and disease control and in using soil moisture available to its deep taproot. It is most often grown in rotation with small grains or on fallow. In areas of wheat production, safflower is also a feasible option because it uses the same equipment as wheat. The crop usually needs days to mature. A contract is recommended as a safe way to market safflower seed.

I. History:

Safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) is an annual, broadleaf oilseed crop adapted chiefly to the small-grain production areas of the western Great Plains. Evaluations of safflower in the Great Plains states began in 1925, but the seed had an oil content that was too low for profitable oil extraction. In the following years the Nebraska Agricultural Experiment Station developed varieties with about oil compared to older varieties with less than

Commercial production became concentrated in western Nebraska and eastern Colorado, but is now located in several Western states and Canadian Prairie provinces. California grows approximately of the safflower in the U.S.A., while North Dakota and Montana, grow most of the remaining domestic production. South Dakota, Idaho, Colorado, and Arizona also produce safflower, but with much smaller acreages.

There are two types of safflower varieties, the type that produces oil which is high in monounsaturated fatty acids (oleic acid), and those with high concentrations of polyunsaturated fatty acids (linoleic acid). Either type of safflower raised in the Northern Great Plains is very low in saturated fatty acids when compared to other vegetable oils. Only the linoleic safflower is being grown commercially in the Upper Midwest. Varieties with a high content of oleic acid may soon be grown more widely.

Safflower was originally grown for the flowers that were used in making red and yellow dyes for clothing and food preparation. Today this crop supplies oil, meal, birdseed, and foots (residue from oil processing) for the food and industrial products markets, although this crop is now primarily grown for the oil.

The oil in linoleic safflower contains nearly linoleic acid, which is considerably higher than corn, soybean, cottonseed, peanut or olive oils. This type of safflower is used primarily for edible oil products such as salad oils and soft margarines. Researchers disagree on whether oils high in polyunsaturated acids, like linoleic acid, help decrease blood cholesterol and the related heart and circulatory problems. Nonetheless, it is considered a "high quality" edible oil and public concern about this topic made safflower an important crop for vegetable oil.

Varieties that are high in oleic acid may serve as a heat-stable, but expensive cooking oil used to fry potato chips and french fries. As an industrial oil, it is considered a drying or semidrying oil that is used in manufacturing paints and other surface coatings. The oil is light in color and will not yellow with aging, hence it is used in white and light-colored paints. This oil can also be used as a diesel fuel substitute, but like most vegetable oils, is currently too expensive for this use.

The meal that remains after oil extraction is used as a protein supplement for livestock. The meal usually contains about 24% protein and much fiber. Decorticated meal (most of hulls removed) has about 40% protein with a reduced fiber content. Foots are used to manufacture soap. The birdseed industry buys a small portion of the seed production. Sheep and cattle can graze succulent safflower and stubble fields after harvest.

Safflower oil is from safflower plant that is native to Mediterranean countries. It is obtained by pressing or solvent extraction. Safflower has one of the highest linoleic acid contents of all oils. A mono-unsaturated oil similar to Olive. Extremely low in saturated fats. Also commonly used in cosmetics and body oils. Oleic Safflower is produced by using a hybrid Safflower Seed that has an inherent greater oleic fatty acid, than linoleic. Since oleic is much less subject to oxidation than the linoleic acid, this is much more stable. The moisture content of human skin is proportional to the content of essential unsaturated fatty acids. Wonderfully moisturizing. Safflower is recommended for use in skin care products and massage. It's shelf life is up to one year.

Used often in massage oils and as a carrier for essential oils. Can be useful blended with any. Spreads easily and is suitable for all skin types. Safflower is expressed from safflower seeds. It has one of the highest linoleic acid contents of all known . Safflower has superior skin compatibility and increases the moisture content of the skin (skin hydration is proportional to the level of linoleic acid in the skin).

INTRODUCTION:

1. Background

Safflower, Carthamus tinctorius L. is a member of the family Compositae or Asteraceae, cultivated mainly for its seeds, which yield edible oil. Traditionally, the crop was grown for its flowers, used for coloring and flavoring foods and making dyes. The medicinal uses of flower in China have become known to the rest of the world in last few years rekindling the interest in this crop. Some of the various uses of safflower have been listed in Table 1.

Table 1: Safflower uses

Table 3. Nutritional composition of flowers of safflower variety NARI-6 and hybrid NARI-NH-1:

Nutritive parameters	NARI-6	NARI-NH-1
Total sugar, % by wt. Protein, % by wt. Potassium, mg % Calcium, mg % Magnesium, mg % Iron, mg % Sodium, mg % Manganese, mg % Zinc, mg % Copper, mg %	7.36 12.86 3992.00 558.00 207.00 55.10 1043.00 4.34 2.88 4.73	11.81 10.40 3264.00 708.00 142.00 42.50 17.00 4.70 2.60 1.10

Safflower is a highly branched, herbaceous, thistle-like annual, usually with many long sharp spines on the leaves.tall with globular flower heads (capitula) and commonly, brilliant yellow, orange or red flowers which bloom in July. Each branch will usually have from one to five flower heads containing 15 to 20 seeds per head. Safflower has a strong taproot which enables it to thrive in dry climates, but the plant is very susceptible to frost injury from stem elongation to maturity.

Traditionally, the crop was grown for its flowers, used for colouring and flavouring foods and making red and yellow dyes, especially before cheaper aniline dyes became available, and in medicines. For the last fifty years or so, the plant has been cultivated mainly for the vegetable oil extracted from its seeds.

Safflower oil is flavorless and colorless, and nutritionally similar to sunflower oil. It is used mainly as a cooking oil, in salad dressing, and for the production of margarine. It may also be taken as a nutritional supplement. INCI nomenclature is Carthamus tinctorius

There are two types of safflower that produce different kinds of oil: one high in monounsaturated fatty acid (oleic acid) and the other high in polyunsaturated fatty acid (linoleic acid). Currently the predominant oil market is for the former, which is lower in saturates and higher in monounsaturates than olive oil, for example.

Safflower oil is also used in painting in the place of linseed oil, particularly with white, as it does not have the yellow tint which linseed oil possesses.

Safflower is one of humanity's oldest crops, but is a minor crop today, with about 600,000 t being produced commercially in more than sixty countries worldwide. India, United States, and Mexico are the leading producers, with Ethiopia, Kazakhstan, China, Argentina and Australia accounting for most of the remainder.

Chemical Formula:  C27H50O6

Oil Quality:

Safflower is thought to be one of the highest quality vegetable oils. To understand why this is so, some understanding of oil quality is required. Oils (which are liquid at room temperature), and fats (which are solid at room temperature) are composed of chains of carbon atoms (fatty acids) of varying length, combined with glycerol. The carbon atoms that form the backbone of these fatty acids can form four chemical bonds, including bonds with other carbon atoms. Oils and fats are "saturated" if all the bonds between carbon atoms in the carbon atom chain are single bonds (C-C-C). They are "unsaturated" if one or more of the carbon atom pairs share a double bond (C-C=C-C).

Many fatty acids have names. Two of the most important ones are oleic acid and linoleic acid. Oleic acids are "monounsaturated," meaning that they have one pair of carbon atoms among the 18 making up the carbon chain that share a double bond (denominated 18:1). Linoleic acid (18:2) is "polyunsaturated," meaning that there are in this case two pairs of carbon atoms in the carbon chain that share a bond. The iodine number quantifies the degree of unsaturation of the total fatty acids in an oil. A high number means less saturation. That is why linoleic types have a higher iodine number than oleic types of safflower.

"Hydrogenated" oils become fats by the catalytic conversion of unsaturated fatty acids to saturated fatty acids through the substitution of hydrogen-carbon bonds for carbon-carbon bonds. Butter, an animal fat, is composed primarily of short chain fatty acids (less than 14 carbon atoms in a row:

The only essential fatty acid in human nutrition (the one that the human body needs but cannot make from other precursors) is linoleic. Some nutritionists also believe that the omega-3 fatty acids are essential. Beyond these, the nutritional value of oils becomes a controversial and ever-changing subject1. Currently, the consumption of unsaturated oils (particularly those with oleic fatty acids) is thought to be healthier than the consumption of mostly saturated fats, particularly those that also contain some trans-unsaturated carbon-carbon bonds.

Many of the characteristics noted for sunflower also apply to safflower, which is another species of the Asteraceae (sunflower family). Like sunflower oil, safflower oil is polyunsaturated and therefore is useful in lessening the threat of human arteriosclerosis. It is also an annual crop, usually less than one meter tall, and it can be mechanically harvested. Forms up to two meters in height are common in the Turko-Afghanistan region.

Safflower is native to the Old World, and the genus occurs naturally in the Mediterranean region, northeastern Africa, and southwestern Asia to India. There are positively identified archaeological records of safflower from 4000-year-old Egyptian tombs, including a find of single safflower flowers wrapped in willow leaves that were placed with a mummy from the 18th Dynasty (ca. 1600 B.C.). The flowers of Carthamus are pale yellow to red-orange, tubular disk florets; there are no ray florets in this thistle-like head. Since ancient times, orange pigments have been obtained from safflower. In fact, the name safflower may be derived from another plant, saffron (Crocus sativus), which was a precious and very expensive yellowish dye obtained from the stigmas of freshly opened flowers. The name Carthamus is the latinized form of the Arabic word quartum or gurtum, which refers to the pigment color. The corolla as a water-soluble yellow dye (carthamidin, an anthocyanin) and a water-insoluble orange-red dye (carthamin), which is readily soluble in an alkaline solution. Dyes were produced from fresh flowers, which were collected during morning shade and dried on muslin trays before storing in tins. Other methods of producing safflower dyes included collecting the heads of flowers before they faded on the plant and removing the yellow corollas. The yellow dye could be extracted by washing the corollas for three to four days in acidified water, which made the pigment dissolve.

Safflower oil is a drying oil that is used in white and light-colored oil-based paints instead of linseed oil, because it does not yellow with age like similar oils rich in linoleic or oleic acid (depending on cultivar). Safflower was used as a substitute for more precious oils. Likewise, safflower pigment was used as a substitute for or an adulterant of saffron, e.g., as a coloring agent in cheeses. Safflower was particularly important as an oil and pigment in southern Asia (Iran, Afghanistan, and India), and early carpets from these regions used safflower dye. Safflower arrived in China relatively late (200-300 A.D. according to current records), and the dyes became important there. In China safflower oil was considered inferior to sesame oil but nonetheless is mixed with sesame and cottonseed oil in the preparation of Japanese tempura. The Japanese cosmetic beni is also made from safflower, and French chalk was mixed with safflower to make a cosmetic. In India and Afghanistan, saffron rice is made with safflower, which gives it an interesting orange color. Moreover, over the centuries safflower has been used commonly in potions and folk medicines throughout the Old World.

Safflower cultivation is now widespread, and one can see many fields of these plants in dry areas of the southwestern United States, such as in California and Arizona, because this species is fairly drought resistant and salt tolerant. Each plant forms one to two dozen heads of flowers, which are quickly converted into full heads of fruits (again, achenes), because the flowers are self-compatible and self-pollinated. Presence of honey bees can increase production. Oil content of the achenes is frequently 30-45%, and protein content can be as high as. After the oil is expressed, safflower seedcake can often be used for livestock feed, and the remaining plant, if not too spiny, can be used for green fodder or silage.