Safflower
Safflower is one of the oldest known cultivated crops, being cultivated in Mesopotamia potentially as early as 2500BCE.
It has been a highly valuable resource for thousands of years. It was first a dye for both clothing and food, then as a cheap alternative to saffron, earning it the name "false saffron".
Today, you'll most likely find safflower as a cooking oil and vital ingredient in skin and hair care products.
In 2023, one third of the world's safflower seeds came from Kazakhstan
Plant description
Safflower is a herb that can grow up to 1.5m in height. The green toothed leaves measure up to 15cm long and grow on alternate sides of the stem, except at the top where they grow smaller and in a cluster around the flower. The flowers grow in clusters of thistle-like blooms, and are generally red, orange or yellow, although some cultivars have white flowers. If pollinated, the flower bud produces around 30 small white seeds.
Plant uses
Beauty and cosmetics
Oil from the seeds of the safflower plant has been used in skin and hair care products due to its moisturising properties.
It contains high levels of naturally occurring lipids that nourish and smooth hair cuticles, promote hair growth, and hydrate the scalp.
Safflower seed oil is also rich in vitamin E, an antioxidant that helps protect your skin, as well as linoleic acid which can helps manage acne.
Food and drink
Safflower seed oil is used in salad dressings and margarine and as a cooking oil.
Safflower flowers were used as a cheaper substitute for saffron in traditional recipes by early Spanish colonies along the Rio Grande in New Mexico.
Health
Safflower seeds contain high levels of mono and polyunsaturated fats in the form of Omega 6 and 9.
Materials and fuels
The flowers were traditionally used to make red and yellow dyes for both clothing and food before cheaper synthetic dyes became available.
Safflower seeds are sold as bird food.
Did you know?
Safflowers were highly popular among the ancient Egyptians. Their flowers were used to dye Egyptian textiles from the twelfth dynasty, and clothing made from safflowers was found on eighteenth dynasty mummies in Egypt.
Where in the world?
Arid environments with seasonal rain. Grows best in well-drained, sandy loam soils in full sun.
