From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Safflower (
Carthamus tinctorius L.[1]) 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.
Traditionally, the crop was grown for its seeds, and used for colouring and flavouring foods, in medicines, and making red (
carthamin) and yellow dyes, especially before cheaper
aniline dyes became available.
[2] 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
genetically modified safflower has been bred to create
insulin.
[3]
Safflower purchased at a market in Turkey
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
birdfeeders, as
squirrels do not like the taste of it.
The pharmaceutical company
SemBioSys Genetics is currently using
transgenic safflower plants to produce human insulin as the global demand for the hormone grows. Safflower-derrived human insulin is currently in the PI/II trials on human test subjects. Phillip Stephan, SemBioSys Genetics Inc, product bulletin June 2008.
[4]
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 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.
In colouring textiles, safflower's dried flowers are used as a natural textile dye.
Natural dyes derived from plants are not widely used in industry but it is getting more important world wide because of naturality and fashion trends. The colourful matter in safflower is
benzoquinone-based
Carthamin, so it is one of the
quinone type natural dyes. It is a
direct dye (CI Natural Red 26) and soluble.
Yellow,
mustard,
khaki,
olive green or even
red colours can be obtained on
textiles, but it is mostly used for yellow colours. All
hydrophilic fibres (all
natural fibres, such as
cotton,
wool, etc.) can be dyed with this plant since it can be classified as a direct dye.
Polyamide can also be dyed without a
mordant agent because of its wool-like chemical structure.
Polyester,
polyacrylnitryl and others which are
hydrophobic synthetic fibres can be dyed only in the existence of a mordant.
[EDIT]HISTORY
Safflower is one of humanity's oldest crops. Chemical analysis of
ancient Egyptian textiles dated to the
Twelfth dynasty identified dyes made from safflower, and garlands made from safflowers were found in the tomb of the
pharaoh Tutankhamun.
[5] 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
florets."
[6]
Other names include Sallflower, Beni, Chimichanga, or Carthamus Tinctorius.
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