Safflower

Scientific classification

Kingdom: Plantae

(unranked): Angiosperms

(unranked): Eudicots

(unranked): Asterids

Order: Asterales

Family: Asteraceae

Tribe: Cynareae

Genus: Carthamus

Species: C. tinctorius

Binomial name

Carthamus tinctorius

L. [1]

SafflowerFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) is a highly branched,herbaceous, thistle­like annual plant. It is commercially cultivatedfor vegetable oil extracted from the seeds. Plants are 30 to 150 cm(12 to 59 in) tall with globular flower heads having yellow, orange,or red flowers. Each branch will usually have from one to fiveflower heads containing 15 to 20 seeds per head. Safflower is nativeto arid environments having seasonal rain. It grows a deep taprootwhich enables it to thrive in such environments.

Contents

1 History2 Production3 Uses

3.1 Seed3.2 Oil3.3 Flower3.4 Transgenics

4 See also5 Notes6 External links

History

Safflower is one of humanity's oldest crops. Chemical analysis ofancient Egyptian textiles dated to the Twelfth dynasty identifieddyes made from safflower, and garlands made from safflowers werefound in the tomb of the pharaoh Tutankhamun.[2] John Chadwickreports that the Greek name for safflower κάρθαμος (kārthamos)occurs many times in Linear B tablets, distinguished into two kinds:a white safflower (ka­na­ko re­u­ka, 'knākos leukā'), which ismeasured, and red (ka­na­ko e­ru­ta­ra, 'knākos eruthrā') which is weighed. "The explanation is that thereare two parts of the plant which can be used; the pale seeds and the red florets."[3]

Safflower was also known as carthamine in the nineteenth century.[4]

Production

Carthamus tinctorius

Worldwide safflower production

It is a minor crop today, with about 600,000 tons being produced commercially in more than sixty countriesworldwide. India,[5] United States, and Mexico are the leading producers, with Ethiopia, Kazakhstan,China, the Arab World, Argentina and Australia accounting for most of the remainder.

Other names include Sallflower, Beni, Chimichanga, or Carthamus tinctorius and in Pashto it is calledKareza (as it is found abundantly in Afghanistan and Tribal belts of Pakistan).

Uses

Traditionally, the crop was grown for its seeds, and used for coloring and flavoring foods, in medicines, andmaking red (carthamin) and yellow dyes, especially beforecheaper aniline dyes became available.[2] For the last fifty yearsor so, the plant has been cultivated mainly for the vegetable oilextracted from its seeds.

Seed

Safflower seed oil is flavorless and colorless, and nutritionallysimilar to sunflower oil. It is used mainly in cosmetics and as acooking oil, in salad dressing, and for the production ofmargarine. It may also be taken as a nutritional supplement.[6]INCI nomenclature is Carthamus tinctorius.

Safflower seed is also used quite commonly as an alternative tosunflower seed in birdfeeders, as squirrels do not like the tasteof it.[7]

Oil

There are two types of safflower that produce different kinds ofoil: one high in monounsaturated fatty acid (oleic acid) and theother high in polyunsaturated fatty acid (linoleic acid).Currently the predominant edible oil market is for theformer, which is lower in saturates than olive oil, forexample. The latter is used in painting in the place oflinseed oil, particularly with white paints, as it does nothave the yellow tint which linseed oil possesses.

In dietary use, high–linoleic safflower oil has also beenshown to increase adiponectin, a protein that helpsregulate blood glucose levels and fatty­acidbreakdown.[8] During a 16­week, double­blindcontrolled study conducted at The Ohio StateUniversity, researchers compared high­linoleicsafflower oil (SAF) with conjugated linoleic acid(CLA).[9] They studied post­menopausal women who

Carthamus tinctorius ­ MHNT

Safflower purchased at a market inTurkey

Safflower oil as a medium for oilcolours

had high blood sugar and wanted to lose weight. These participants showed an average reduction of 6.3percent belly fat and an average of 20.3 percent increase in theimportant belly fat hormone, adiponectin.

Hornstra et al analyzed a group where safflower oil replaced animalfats in the diets of people who had had a heart attack. The groupreceiving extra safflower oil in place of animal fats had asignificantly higher risk of death from all causes, cardiovasculardisease and coronary heart disease. As expected, increasing omega­6 linoleic acid from safflower oil in the Sydney Diet Heart Studysignificantly reduced total cholesterol; however, these reductionswere not associated with [reduced] mortality outcomes. Moreover,the increased risk of death in the intervention group presented fairlyrapidly and persisted throughout the trial.[10] An updated meta­analysis of polyunsaturated fatty acidintervention trials showed trends toward increased risks of death from coronary heart disease andcardiovascular disease from increasing omega­6 linoleic acid intakes suggesting that the cardiovascularbenefits of polyunsaturated fatty acids may be attributable to omega­3 polyunsaturated fats.

In culinary use, safflower oil compares favorably with other vegetable oils with its high smoke point.

Flower

Safflower flowers are occasionally used in cooking as a cheapersubstitute for saffron, and were sometimes referred to as "bastardsaffron".[11]

In coloring textiles, safflower's dried flowers are used as a naturaltextile dye. The pigment in safflower is the benzoquinone­derivedchemical carthamin and it is classified as a quinone­type dye. It is adirect dye which is also known as CI Natural Red 26. Yellow,mustard, khaki, and olive are the most common colors in textiles.Even bright reds and purples can be reached using alkalineprocessing. Indians used this red dye as their official red tape onlegal documents.[12] All hydrophilic fibers (all natural fibers, such ascotton, wool, etc.) may be dyed with this plant. Polyamide textilescan also be dyed without a mordant agent because of its wool­likechemical structure. Polyester, polyacrylonitrile, and others whichare hydrophobic synthetic fibers can be dyed only in the presence ofa mordant.

Safflower concentrate is an ingredient of the carbonated soft drinkTizer and some types of Sunkist.

Ancient Egyptians found the flower pleasing to the eye and includedit in garlands placed on mummies.[12] Dried safflower flowers (紅藍花 honglanhua, 草紅花 caohonghua, 刺紅花 cihonghua) are used in traditional Chinese medicine toalleviate pain, increase circulation, and reduce bruising.[13] They are included in herbal remedies for

menstrual pain and minor physical trauma.[14] In India, the flowers are used for their laxative anddiaphoretic properties, and are also used for children's complaints of measles, fevers and eruptive skinconditions.[12]

Transgenics

The defunct pharmaceutical company SemBioSys Genetics tried to use transgenic safflower plants toproduce human insulin as the global demand for the hormone grows. Safflower­derived human insulin wasin the PI/II trials on human test subjects.[15]

See also

Chinese herbologyConjugated linoleic acidSafflower PrincessTsheringma

Notes1. http://www.tropicos.org/Name/27003652. Daniel Zohary and Maria Hopf, Domestication of plants in the Old World, third edition (Oxford: University

Press, 2000), p. 2113. John Chadwick, The Mycenaean World (Cambridge: University Press, 1976), p. 1204. De Candolle, Alphonse. (1885.)Origin of cultivated plants. (http://books.google.com/books?

id=g_gCAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA165&dq=carthamine#PPA164,M1) D. Appleton & Co.: New York, p. 164.Retrieved on 2007­09­25.

5. [1] (http://www.australianoilseeds.com/__data/assets/pdf_file/0020/6743/Final_Nimbkar_paper.pdf) Issues insafflower production in India

6. http://www.webmd.com/vitamins­supplements/ingredientmono­96­SAFFLOWER.aspx?activeIngredientId=96&activeIngredientName=SAFFLOWER

7. http://www.ebirdseed.com/safflower.html8. Nagao, Koji; Inoue, Nao; Wang, Yu­Ming; Yanagita, Teruyoshi (2003). "Conjugated linoleic acid enhances

plasma adiponectin level and alleviates hyperinsulinemia and hypertension in Zucker diabetic fatty (fa/fa) rats".Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications 310 (2): 562. doi:10.1016/j.bbrc.2003.09.044.PMID 14521947.

9. Norris, L. E.; Collene, A. L.; Asp, M. L.; Hsu, J. C.; Liu, L. F.; Richardson, J. R.; Li, D; Bell, D; Osei, K;Jackson, R. D.; Belury, M. A. (2009). "Comparison of dietary conjugated linoleic acid with safflower oil onbody composition in obese postmenopausal women with type 2 diabetes mellitus". The American Journal ofClinical Nutrition 90 (3): 468–476. doi:10.3945/ajcn.2008.27371. PMC 2728639. PMID 19535429.

10. Ramsden, C. E.; Zamora, D.; Leelarthaepin, B.; Majchrzak­Hong, S. F.; Faurot, K. R.; Suchindran, C. M.;Ringel, A.; Davis, J. M.; Hibbeln, J. R. (2013). "Use of dietary linoleic acid for secondary prevention ofcoronary heart disease and death: Evaluation of recovered data from the Sydney Diet Heart Study and updatedmeta­analysis". BMJ 346: e8707. doi:10.1136/bmj.e8707. PMID 23386268.

11. E.g. "safflower" in Webster's Dictionary, year 1828 (http://machaut.uchicago.edu/?resource=Webster%27s&word=safflower&use1828=on). E.g. "bastard saffron" in The Herball, or GeneralHistorie of Plantes (http://archive.org/stream/mobot31753000817749#page/1006/mode/1up), by John Gerarde,year 1597, pages 1006­1007.

12. Dweck, Anthony C. (ed.) (June 2009), Nature provides huge range of colour possibilities (PDF), Personal CareMagazine, pp. 61–73, retrieved 30 Oct 2012

Wikimedia Commons hasmedia related to Carthamustinctorius.

13. http://www.acupuncturetoday.com/herbcentral/safflower.php14. 雷载权; 陈松育、高学敏 (1995). 中药学. 上海科学技术出版社. p. 206. ISBN 7­5323­3706­5.15. Phillip Stephan, SemBioSys Genetics Inc, product bulletin June 2008. http://www.sembiosys.com/pdf/SBS­1723­

Product­FS(Insulin).pdf sembiosys.com

External links

Complementary and Alternative Healing University (ChineseHerbology)(http://alternativehealing.org/carthamus_tinctorius.htm)Ahmed M. Zahran, M. F. Omran, S. Z. Mansour and N. K.Ibrahim. Effectiveness of Carthamus tinctorius L. in the Restitution of Lipid Composition inIrradiated Rats. Egypt. J. Rad. Sci. Applic., 20(1) 75­94 (2007).Safflower production (in the United States)(http://www.ext.nodak.edu/extpubs/plantsci/crops/a870w.htm)Safflower field crops manual (http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/afcm/safflower.html)UN FAO statistics on safflower production (http://www.fao.org/es/ess/top/commodity.jsp?lang=EN&commodity=280&CommodityList=280&year=2002&yearLyst=2002)Globe and Mail: "Calgary firm turns safflower into insulin"(http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060719.wxinsulin19/BNStory/specialScienceandHealth/home)List of Chemicals in Safflower (Dr. Duke's Databases) (http://sun.ars­grin.gov:8080/npgspub/xsql/duke/plantdisp.xsql?taxon=210)The Paulden F. Knowles personal history of safflower germplasm exploration and use(http://ucanr.org/sites/plantbreeding/files/151269.pdf)

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Categories: Plant dyes Food colorings Cooking oils Carthamus Medicinal plants Vegetable oilsPlants used in traditional Chinese medicine Plants used in Ayurveda Flora of Nepal Flora of IndiaPlants described in 1753

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