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{{Taxobox
| color = lightgreen
| name = Safflower
| image = Safflower.jpg
| image_width = 250px
| regnum = [[Plantae]]
| phylum = [[Magnoliophyta|Magnoliophyta]]
| classis = [[Magnoliopsida]]
| ordo = [[Asterales]]
| familia = [[Asteraceae]]
| genus = ''[[Carthamus]]''
| species = '''''C. tinctorius'''''
| binomial = ''Carthamus tinctorius''
| binomial_authority = (Mohler, Roth, Schmidt & Boudreaux, 1967)
}}
'''Safflower''' is a highly branched, [[herbaceous]], [[thistle]]-like annual, usually with many long sharp spines on the leaves. Plants are 30 to 150 cm 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.
== Uses ==
Traditionally, the crop was grown for its flowers, used for colouring and flavouring foods and making red ([[carthamin]]) and yellow dyes, especially before cheaper [[aniline]] [[dyes]] became available, and in medicines.<ref>Daniel Zohary and Maria Hopf, ''Domestication of plants in the Old World'', third edition (Oxford: University Press, 2000), p.211</ref> For the last fifty years or so, the plant has been cultivated mainly for the [[vegetable oil]] extracted from its seeds. In [[April]] [[2007]] it was reported that [[Genetic engineering|genetically modified]] safflower has been bred to create [[insulin]]. <ref>http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/6518787.stm</ref>.
Safflower oil is flavorless and colorless, and [[nutrition]]ally 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''.
Safflower flowers are occasionally used in cooking as a cheaper substitute for [[saffron]], and are thus sometimes referred to as "bastard saffron." Safflower seed is also used quite commonly as an alternative to [[sunflower]] seed in [[birdfeeder]]s, as [[squirrel]]s do not like the taste of it.
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.
Lana is a strain of Safflower that grows in the southwestern United States, most notably Arizona and New Mexico.
== History ==
Safflower is one of humanity's oldest crops. Chemical analysis of [[ancient Egypt]]ian textiles dated to the [[Twelfth dynasty of Egypt|Twelfth dynasty]] identified dyes made from safflower, and garlands made from safflowers were found in the tomb of the [[pharaoh]] [[Tutankhamun]].<ref>Zohary and Hopf, ''ibid.''</ref> [[John Chadwick]] reports that the Greek name for safflower occurs many times in [[Linear B]] tablets, distinguished into two kinds: a white safflower, which is measured, and red which is weighed. "The explanation is that there are two parts of the plant which can be used; the pale seeds and the red [[floret]]s."<ref>John Chadwick, ''The Mycenaean World'' (Cambridge: University Press, 1976), p. 120</ref>
Safflower was also known as carthamine in the 19th century.<ref name="condolle1885">De Candolle, Alphonse. (1885.) [http://books.google.com/books?id=g_gCAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA165&dq=carthamine#PPA164,M1 ''Origin of cultivated plants.''] D. Appleton & Co.: New York, p. 164. Retrieved on [[2007]]-[[09-25]].</ref> It is a minor crop today, with about 600,000 tons 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.
==Diseases==
{{Main|List of safflower diseases}}
== See also ==
*[[Safflower Princess]]
*[[Conjugated linoleic acid]]
*[http://nariphaltan.virtualave.net/petal.pdf Safflower petal collector]
== Notes ==
<references/>
==External links==
* [http://www.ext.nodak.edu/extpubs/plantsci/crops/a870w.htm Safflower production (in the United States)]
* [http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/afcm/safflower.html Safflower field crops manual]
* [http://www.fao.org/es/ess/top/commodity.jsp?lang=EN&commodity=280&CommodityList=280&year=2002&yearLyst=2002 UN FAO statistics on safflower production]
* [http://nariphaltan.virtualave.net/safflower.htm Safflower R&D at Nimbkar Agricultural Research Institute in India]
* [http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060719.wxinsulin19/BNStory/specialScienceandHealth/home Globe and Mail: "Calgary firm turns safflower into insulin"]
* [http://www.etagriculture.com/nov_dec2002/avenues.html]
{{fatsandoils}}
[[Category:Natural dyes]]
[[Category:Food colorings]]
[[Category:Cooking oils]]
[[Category:Asteraceae]]
[[Category:Medicinal plants]]
[[Category:Vegetable oils]]
| color = lightgreen
| name = Safflower
| image = Safflower.jpg
| image_width = 250px
| regnum = [[Plantae]]
| phylum = [[Magnoliophyta|Magnoliophyta]]
| classis = [[Magnoliopsida]]
| ordo = [[Asterales]]
| familia = [[Asteraceae]]
| genus = ''[[Carthamus]]''
| species = '''''C. tinctorius'''''
| binomial = ''Carthamus tinctorius''
| binomial_authority = (Mohler, Roth, Schmidt & Boudreaux, 1967)
}}
'''Safflower''' is a highly branched, [[herbaceous]], [[thistle]]-like annual, usually with many long sharp spines on the leaves. Plants are 30 to 150 cm 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.
== Uses ==
Traditionally, the crop was grown for its flowers, used for colouring and flavouring foods and making red ([[carthamin]]) and yellow dyes, especially before cheaper [[aniline]] [[dyes]] became available, and in medicines.<ref>Daniel Zohary and Maria Hopf, ''Domestication of plants in the Old World'', third edition (Oxford: University Press, 2000), p.211</ref> For the last fifty years or so, the plant has been cultivated mainly for the [[vegetable oil]] extracted from its seeds. In [[April]] [[2007]] it was reported that [[Genetic engineering|genetically modified]] safflower has been bred to create [[insulin]]. <ref>http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/6518787.stm</ref>.
Safflower oil is flavorless and colorless, and [[nutrition]]ally 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''.
Safflower flowers are occasionally used in cooking as a cheaper substitute for [[saffron]], and are thus sometimes referred to as "bastard saffron." Safflower seed is also used quite commonly as an alternative to [[sunflower]] seed in [[birdfeeder]]s, as [[squirrel]]s do not like the taste of it.
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.
Lana is a strain of Safflower that grows in the southwestern United States, most notably Arizona and New Mexico.
== History ==
Safflower is one of humanity's oldest crops. Chemical analysis of [[ancient Egypt]]ian textiles dated to the [[Twelfth dynasty of Egypt|Twelfth dynasty]] identified dyes made from safflower, and garlands made from safflowers were found in the tomb of the [[pharaoh]] [[Tutankhamun]].<ref>Zohary and Hopf, ''ibid.''</ref> [[John Chadwick]] reports that the Greek name for safflower occurs many times in [[Linear B]] tablets, distinguished into two kinds: a white safflower, which is measured, and red which is weighed. "The explanation is that there are two parts of the plant which can be used; the pale seeds and the red [[floret]]s."<ref>John Chadwick, ''The Mycenaean World'' (Cambridge: University Press, 1976), p. 120</ref>
Safflower was also known as carthamine in the 19th century.<ref name="condolle1885">De Candolle, Alphonse. (1885.) [http://books.google.com/books?id=g_gCAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA165&dq=carthamine#PPA164,M1 ''Origin of cultivated plants.''] D. Appleton & Co.: New York, p. 164. Retrieved on [[2007]]-[[09-25]].</ref> It is a minor crop today, with about 600,000 tons 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.
==Diseases==
{{Main|List of safflower diseases}}
== See also ==
*[[Safflower Princess]]
*[[Conjugated linoleic acid]]
*[http://nariphaltan.virtualave.net/petal.pdf Safflower petal collector]
== Notes ==
<references/>
==External links==
* [http://www.ext.nodak.edu/extpubs/plantsci/crops/a870w.htm Safflower production (in the United States)]
* [http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/afcm/safflower.html Safflower field crops manual]
* [http://www.fao.org/es/ess/top/commodity.jsp?lang=EN&commodity=280&CommodityList=280&year=2002&yearLyst=2002 UN FAO statistics on safflower production]
* [http://nariphaltan.virtualave.net/safflower.htm Safflower R&D at Nimbkar Agricultural Research Institute in India]
* [http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060719.wxinsulin19/BNStory/specialScienceandHealth/home Globe and Mail: "Calgary firm turns safflower into insulin"]
* [http://www.etagriculture.com/nov_dec2002/avenues.html]
{{fatsandoils}}
[[Category:Natural dyes]]
[[Category:Food colorings]]
[[Category:Cooking oils]]
[[Category:Asteraceae]]
[[Category:Medicinal plants]]
[[Category:Vegetable oils]]
