A Comprehensive Study on Safflower (Carthamus TinctoriusL.) in Semi-Arid Conditions

Safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) is a multipurpose oilseed crop grown mainly for production of high quality edible oil rich in polyunsaturated acids. It is widely grown in semi-arid and arid regions of the world. The present study reports effects of 3 petal collecting times when 50, 75 and 100% flower heads were opened, on dyestuff content, oil content and fatty acids composition of safflower. It was observed that besides petal collecting time, plant height, first branch height, number of heads per plant, dry petal yield and 1000 seed weight were affected by the changes in environmental factors and cultivars. Total dyestuff was not affected by environmental conditions, cultivars or petals collecting time. Whereas, number of branches per plant, heads per plant, head diameter, number of seeds per head, seed yield per plant, seed yield kg ha−1, and fatty oil contents were cultivar dependent and largely influenced by the variations in environment during two years of experiment. Longer plants, greater number of heads per plant, dry petal yield, total dyestuff, number of branches per plant, larger heads and seed yield kg ha−1 and 1000 seed weight was recorded during 2004–05 with significantly higher rains. In general, cultivar Dincer was more productive compared to cv. Yenice and 5–154 in terms of dry petal yield and total dyestuff whereas cv. 5–154 was more productive in terms of seed yield and fatty oil contents. The seed yield and fatty oil percentage of the safflower cultivars ranged from 1706 to 3111 kg ha−1 and 26.1 to 35.1%, respectively with the highest seed yield and fatty oil percentage in cv. Dincer. Major constituents of fatty oil were linoleic acid, oleic acid and palmitic acid, which ranged 41.0–60.1%, 24.5–44.7% and 11.3–16.0%, respectively.