17.1 History and Origin
Safflower, also known as false saffron, is a thistle-like, diploid, annual herbaceous
crop that flourishes in hot and dry climates. Safflower is believed to have been
domesticated over 4000 years ago (Shirwaikar et al. 2010). The Scientific name of
safflower is Carthamus tincturious. It belongs to family Asteraceae in the order
Asterales (Asgarpanah and Kazemivash 2013). After domestication, cultivation of
safflower spreads throughout the Middle East, Far East, India, and Northern Africa.
During the late 1890s, safflower was introduced to North America and commercial
production was started in 1950s (Pearl and Burke 2014).
Vavilov reported six centres of origins of safflower in 1951 that are as follows.
Centre I—Chinese: It includes China, Japan, and Korea, referred to the Far East in
later studies. Centre II—India: It includes India and both east and west Pakistan.
Centres III and IV—Central Asiatic and Near Eastern: It includes areas from
Afghanistan to Turkey and from southern Union of Soviet Socialist Republics to
the Indian Ocean, referred to the Middle East in later studies. Centre V—Mediterranean: It includes the areas that border the Nile north of Aswan, referred to Egypt in
later studies. The Southern reach of Centre V: It includes areas that border the Nile in
northern Sudan and southern Egypt, referred to Sudan in later studies. The Western
portion of Vavilov’s Centre V: It includes Algeria, France, Italy, Morocco, Portugal,
Romania, and Spain, referred to Europe. Centre VI—Ethiopian: referred to Ethiopia
(Vavilov 1951; Singh and Nimbkar 2006). For cultivated safflower, three centres of
origin were proposed by Vavilov (1951) including India (based upon diversity and
ancient culture of production), Afghanistan (based on diversity and proximity to
wild species), and Ethiopia (based upon the presence of wild species of safflower)
(Vavilov 1951; Singh and Nimbkar 2006).
17.2 Production
Safflower is a bushy, herbaceous plant which possesses several branches, that are
categorized as primary, secondary, and tertiary. The taproot system of C. tincturious
spreads to two to three meters in soil with sufficient depth. This deep root system
allows safflower to extract nutrient from deep down the soil making it an ideal crop
for rainfed systems (Asgarpanah and Kazemivash 2013).
Safflower is cultivated mainly for its seeds which are employed to extract oil and
the resulting oil is utilized as edible oil due to its rich unsaturated fatty acids content
and nutritional value. C. tincturious is also grown for its flowers that can be used as
medicines in several cultures and are also used as coloring and flavoring agents in
foods (Kumar and Kumari 2011; Pearl and Burke 2014). Interest in safflower
production has increased in last few years mainly due to the huge shortage of oilseed
production due to scarce rainfall, healthy eating choice of consumers for oils having
428
M. Nazir et al.
Safflower, also known as false saffron, is a thistle-like, diploid, annual herbaceous
crop that flourishes in hot and dry climates. Safflower is believed to have been
domesticated over 4000 years ago (Shirwaikar et al. 2010). The Scientific name of
safflower is Carthamus tincturious. It belongs to family Asteraceae in the order
Asterales (Asgarpanah and Kazemivash 2013). After domestication, cultivation of
safflower spreads throughout the Middle East, Far East, India, and Northern Africa.
During the late 1890s, safflower was introduced to North America and commercial
production was started in 1950s (Pearl and Burke 2014).
Vavilov reported six centres of origins of safflower in 1951 that are as follows.
Centre I—Chinese: It includes China, Japan, and Korea, referred to the Far East in
later studies. Centre II—India: It includes India and both east and west Pakistan.
Centres III and IV—Central Asiatic and Near Eastern: It includes areas from
Afghanistan to Turkey and from southern Union of Soviet Socialist Republics to
the Indian Ocean, referred to the Middle East in later studies. Centre V—Mediterranean: It includes the areas that border the Nile north of Aswan, referred to Egypt in
later studies. The Southern reach of Centre V: It includes areas that border the Nile in
northern Sudan and southern Egypt, referred to Sudan in later studies. The Western
portion of Vavilov’s Centre V: It includes Algeria, France, Italy, Morocco, Portugal,
Romania, and Spain, referred to Europe. Centre VI—Ethiopian: referred to Ethiopia
(Vavilov 1951; Singh and Nimbkar 2006). For cultivated safflower, three centres of
origin were proposed by Vavilov (1951) including India (based upon diversity and
ancient culture of production), Afghanistan (based on diversity and proximity to
wild species), and Ethiopia (based upon the presence of wild species of safflower)
(Vavilov 1951; Singh and Nimbkar 2006).
17.2 Production
Safflower is a bushy, herbaceous plant which possesses several branches, that are
categorized as primary, secondary, and tertiary. The taproot system of C. tincturious
spreads to two to three meters in soil with sufficient depth. This deep root system
allows safflower to extract nutrient from deep down the soil making it an ideal crop
for rainfed systems (Asgarpanah and Kazemivash 2013).
Safflower is cultivated mainly for its seeds which are employed to extract oil and
the resulting oil is utilized as edible oil due to its rich unsaturated fatty acids content
and nutritional value. C. tincturious is also grown for its flowers that can be used as
medicines in several cultures and are also used as coloring and flavoring agents in
foods (Kumar and Kumari 2011; Pearl and Burke 2014). Interest in safflower
production has increased in last few years mainly due to the huge shortage of oilseed
production due to scarce rainfall, healthy eating choice of consumers for oils having
428
M. Nazir et al.