2.11Safflower Oil

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11Safflower Oil

Joseph Smith

1. HISTORY AND BOTANICAL DESCRIPTION

Safflower, Carthamus tinctorius L., has a long history of cultivation. Some would

class it as the worlds most ancient crop (1); others feel that olives, dates, and

sesame predate safflower (2). Safflower was produced in Egypt more than 4000

years ago (3), but the most likely area of its origin is in the Euphrates basin

(46). From there it apparently was introduced into Egypt and Ethiopia. Muslim

traders carried safflower seeds across the northern coast of Africa and into present

day Spain, while Arabs introduced it into many parts of east Africa. By the six-

teenth century, safflower was found in several parts of Europe. Turks carried saf-flower into all parts of the Middle East, from where it spread to Iran,

Afghanistan, and India. From Afghanistan it spread into China more than 2000

years ago (7). It spread to Japan in the third century A.D.(8). Spanish and Portuguese

conquerors brought safflower to the New World, and later emigrants from Portugal

and Russia did the same (9). For much of its history, safflower was used primarily as

a source of dye, a food coloring, a cosmetic, or for medicinal purposes (7, 10, 11).

Dried safflower florets are commonly used as an adulterant or substitute for colorful

saffron, Crocus sativus L., a much more costly spice (1214). Production of saf-flower oil was carried out in the reign of Ptolemy II (10), and Pliny pointed out

that it could be used as a substitute for castor oil for nonedible purposes (15). While

it had become known as an edible oil during pre-Christian times in Mesopotamia

(16), it was only in more recent times that it began to be used in India as an

Baileys Industrial Oil and Fat Products, Sixth Edition,Six Volume Set.Edited by Fereidoon Shahidi. Copyright# 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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edible oil, and of course, it was not until the middle of this century that it began to

enter world commerce, first as an industrial oil and then as an edible product (17).

Because safflower was introduced to many lands, it is known by a number of

different names, some of which are azafrancillo, bastard saffron, benihana, cartamo,

cnikos, false saffron, ghurtom, hung hua, kafsha, kahil, kajireh, kardi, khardam,kusumba, onickus, safflor, thistile saffron and ssuff (1, 3).

The safflower plant is a member of the Compositae family. Other members of

this family are the artichoke, chrysanthemum, niger, and sunflower. There are at

least 25 species of theCarthamusgenus that grow in the wild (18), but onlyC. tinc-

torius, which we call safflower, has been domesticated; some quantities of

C. oxyacantha have been gathered and used as oil or food sources in India and

Pakistan (19).

The safflower plant as we know it resembles the Scottish thistle but has yellow,orange, or redflorets rather than the purple bloom of the thistle. However, the com-

mercial species of safflower, C. tinctorius, does not become a weed. The plant

grows to a height of 30150 cm, develops many branches (unless affected by nat-

ural or artificial environmental conditions), and develops a thickened taproot that

can extend down to 4 m.

Each branch terminates in an inflorescence which is a dense capitulum offlorets

(individual tubular corollas), commonly called a flower. Each floret flower pro-

trudes from a conical head surrounded by layers of bracts. The leaves, whichdevelop along the stalk and branches, and the outer layers of bracts usually are

spiny, although the types of safflower grown for the production of dye or food

coloring are spineless, or nearly so. The seeds of the safflower plant develop within

the head in a concentric pattern and are oblate with a flattened top, usually white,

and about the size of a barley kernel (Figure 1) (20).

Safflower is a plant of desert origins, as evidenced by its deep taproot, waxy

leaves, and relatively thick hull. It responds well to moisture and nitrogen. Its

seed has the ability to germinate almost immediately if exposed to moisture atthe proper temperature, unlike a sunflower seed, which must go through a period

of dormancy before germination. The deep root and the many fine laterals that

extend from it have the ability to seek out water and nutrients deep in the soil.

These properties, while they allow safflower to survive in periods of moisture short-

age also limit the areas of the world where safflower can be cropped successfully.

Safflower is normally planted after soil temperatures exceed 4.5C and does not

begin growing fast until temperatures exceed 15C. In the interim period, it goes

into a rosette stage after emergence. During this time, it establishes its deep rootsystem. As temperatures increase, the stem of the plant begins to elongate and

can grow as much as 2.5 cm per day, until maximum height is attained. Branches

and buds form until the plantflowers, after 70 days or more (depending on tempera-

ture at planting time). Flowering can last from 10 days to 3 weeks, and the crop

usually is ready for harvest 45 days after time of full flower.

Flowering normally takes place during the warmest part of the growing season.

If a protracted period of rainfall occurs at the same time, or until harvest time,

unharvested safflower seeds still in the head will germinate and begin to form

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sprouts, which quickly can reduce oil content, increase color and FFA of the

contained oil, and eventually result in total loss of the crop. Therefore, to grow

safflower successfully, it must be planted in regions that have a minimum 120

frost-free growing days, 300500 mm, of annual rainfall or irrigation, and that do

not experience rainfall during the period when safflower is in flower or thereafter.

Most of the farming areas of the world receive some summer rains. If rainoccurs, safflower has a chance of surviving, but this greatly increases the chance

of the plant being attacked by various leaf and head molds, which can limit yield

severely. So safflower production is limited to areas such as Californias central val-

ley and southern Arizona; isolated areas of Mexico and Australia; and the drier

parts of China, India, and the Middle East. Areas where safflower can be grown,

but with greater risk, are U.S. Northern and Great Plains, southern Idaho, and north-

ern Utah; much of northern Mexico; far northern Argentina; and the drier parts of

India and China (Figure 2).

Figure 1. a, Dr. Carl E. Claassen, father of the modern-day safflower, among fully branched

safflower. b, Safflower blossom. c, Safflower seed.

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Safflower does not require any specialized equipment to be farmed successfully.

In developed parts of the world, 1570 kg of seed are planted per hectare, with the

lower ranges being planted either because moisture is a limiting factor or because

the crop is to be managed in cultivated rows. In areas with only 300400 mm ofannual rainfall, 15 kg of seed are planted with a grain drill, much as a crop of wheat

would be picked. In an area where plentiful irrigation water is available, a 20 kg of

seed may be planted per hectare. Seed may be planted in three or four drilled

or precision-planted rows on an elevated bed; the groups of rows are spaced

5060 mm apart. In areas where moisture is plentiful, 3570 kg of seed may be planted

per hectare; the higher rate is used to ensure that weeds do not gain a competitive

edge. Normal dates of planting in the United States range from December to March

in Arizona, January to March in Californias San Joaquin Valley, February to early

Figure 2. Areas in the United States that can support safflower production.

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May in Californias Sacramento Valley and last half of April to the first half of May

in the rest of the country.

Good practice is to incorporate a trifluran herbicide into medium to heavy loam

soil before planting; the seed is placed at a 35100-mm depth, depending on the

moisture level. A well-incorporated herbicide is necessary where weeds can be aproblem, because safflower is not a good weed competitor in its early stages of

growth. Almost 120 units of nitrogen are necessary to attain maximum production.

For the crop to generate maximum yield, it must receive enough rainfall or have

enough moisture in the soil either through preirrigation or subsequent row irrigation

in order to maintain a bright green color and to prevent drying of its lower leaves

until it is past flowering. As the plant approaches maturity, the flowers dry, and the

entire crop attains a golden brown color.

Harvesting is accomplished with a standard grain combine generally set to runinternally at a slightly lower speed than for grain, which prevents cracking of the

seed. The combine should be set to cut only as deep as is necessary to capture all

heads. Harvesting should not begin until the seed has dried in the head to a level of

8% moisture content or lower. Most safflower is harvested at a 45% moisture level.

In parts of India and China, much of the production is done by hand, and gen-

erally red-flowered, lower oil content, spineless varieties are used. Young people

pass through the fields at time of flowering and pluck the florets from the seed

heads, putting them into purses strung around their necks; the seeds are subse-quently harvested when the crop has matured and dried, to recover oil. The florets

are carefully dried out of the sun and then used for food coloring or (in China and

Sri Lanka) for the production of either red or yellow dye. In India, some green saf-

flower plants are used as a vegetable (21). In Australia, India, and Pakistan the plant

is occasionally used as a grazing crop or fodder for cattle (2224). After harvesting,

the remaining stubble consists of hollow stalks, dried leaves, empty heads, and

some empty hulls or immature seeds. Sheep and cattle were allowed to graze on

this stubble in the United States during the 1950s; today such grazing is confinedto occasional employment by sheep ranchers. Most fields in Mexico are grazed by

cattle after harvest.

Until the twentieth century, safflower tended to be a local crop. No effort was

expended to find species that had better oil content, since most of the interest cen-

tered around the crop as a medicinal or dye stuff source.

In 1925, the U.S. Department of Agriculture obtained samples of safflower seed

from the then U.S.S.R. and India, and over the next 10 years various agricultural

experiment stations and some farmer cooperatives conducted trials. In 1935, theUSDA produced a circular summarizing the trial results; it concluded that safflower

had possibilities as an oil seed crop in the northern Great Plains and far west (25). A

Montana farmer conducted trials with safflower beginning in 1928 and contacted

paint companies, researchers, and others who might have an interest in safflower

oil (26). Several favorable reports ensued (2729). In 1937, a comprehensive report

based on seed obtained from Montana and elsewhere praised safflower oils good

properties (30). Others in Europe had earlier written favorable evaluations of

safflower as a drying oil (31) and as a source of high protein meal (32). In 1947,

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a comprehensive report on safflower production and drying oil capability was

published (33).

Cargill, Inc. contracted for and processed about 1000 t of safflower seed in the

U.S. northern Great Plains during 1947 and 1948; the company concluded that the

crop was not sound at that time (34). Two men and one company provided the realimpetus for getting safflower established as a crop in the United States: Claassen,

Knowles, and the Pacific Vegetable Oil Corp. (PVO).

Claassen was employed in 1941 as a research agronomist by the University of

Nebraska to assist the newly created Chemurgy Project in evaluating crops that

could become significant contributors to the state of Nebraska (35, 36). After test-

ing many new crops, he settled on safflower and began a breeding program (9).

Claassen found that most safflower introductions were in the 2229% oil content

range but found introductions from Sudan and Egypt that ranged from 33 to 37% oilcontent (37). Claassen began to do selection and breeding work, and by 1949, he

had released several lines and described cultural methods for obtaining relatively

consistent yields (3741). The most important line released, N-852, had an oil con-

tent of 3234% and good yielding ability. Several safflower processing companies

were formed in Colorado and Nebraska to commercialize the new releases, but they

quickly failed (34).

Claassens work came to the attention of Knowles at the University of California

at Davis. Claassen had sent portions of his new lines to a number of western coop-erators for testing, and results that Knowles obtained were quite exciting (42).

Claassen was encouraged by Hoagland, who was by then living in California, to

come out for a visit to see the potential that safflower had in that state. Claassen

visited California in 1949 and traveled to various oil processing companies. Claas-

sen was convinced to resign from the university and join Hoagland in starting up a

safflower planting seed and promotion concern called Western Oilseeds Co. (9).

Initially, Oil Seed Products Co. of Fresno, California, displayed the most interest

in Claassen and Hoaglands work, but it soon became apparent that PVO could offermuch more help because of its strong background in the production and sales of

industrial oils. The primary interest in safflower oil at the time was coming from

paint companies, whereas most oil millers in California were suppliers to the

food industry. The N-852 variety, although it had good yields, was susceptible to

phytophthora root rot under irrigation. Thus, the first tries at growing safflower

in California in 1950 resulted in severe losses, because of the stress of irrigation.

This turned away many growers and millers in Californias cottonseed production

areas, which helped PVO, because its mill was farther north. Claassen was soonjoined by Hoffman, his former assistant at Nebraska; they formed an alliance

with PVO. After Hoagland departed after a dispute, Pacific Oilseeds, Inc. (POI)

was formed, jointly owned by PVO, Claassen, and Hoffman (34).

The combination of PVO and POI formed a near monopoly, dominating the saf-

flower business until 1962. Approximately 95% of the safflower oil sold during that

period went to the paint, varnish, and coatings market in which PVO had the stron-

gest hand. POIs tie with PVO meant that only growers who contracted their saf-

flower crop with PVO got the best seed as new varieties began to be released. This

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During the early years of increasing exports of safflower seed to Japan, PVO did

the lions share of the business and was able to tie up a majority of the Japanese

importers through a series of long-term requirements contracts wherein PVO agreed

to supply the Japanese mills increasing needs each year for an agreement to buy

exclusively from PVO. The increasing Japanese demand and the growing popularityof safflower oil in the United States fueled PVOs expansion in production first to

the western Great Plains and then to Mexico, Spain, and Australia. PVO began to

lose its monopoly position in 1957 with the public release of the Gila variety of

safflower seed (47, 48). This seed had a good yield and oil content and was also

resistant to phytophthora root rot. As the seed became available, practically every

cottonseed milling company in California and Arizona was able to become a pro-

ducer and supplier of edible safflower oil.

Up to that point, safflower seed production had been on a continued upward spir-al in the United States, which carried through to 1963. Safflower oil had been price

competitive with soybean oil, particularly in the western United States and Japan,

since soybean oil produced in the Midwest was at a freight disadvantage. The intro-

duction into California of new varieties of wheat developed by the Borlaug program

in Mexico allowed California farmers to achieve increasingly better wheat yields.

In the 1950s, safflower was easily able to compete with wheat or barley as a rotation

crop for Californias rice or cotton farmers, but once wheat yields increased and

safflower yields remained constant, safflower seed prices (and consequently oilprices) were forced to rise to compete for the farmers favor.

Rising prices for safflower and increasingly better water-based paints formulated

from petroleum-based polymers rather than vegetable oils quickly cut industrial

consumption of safflower oil. PVO attempted to stem this tide by introducing pro-

ducts that combined safflower oil with water emulsion technologies, but it was too

late (4951).

The polyunsaturated bubble almost burst when the U.S. Food and Drug Admin-

istration began attacking refiners claims about the ability of these products toreduce incidence of heart disease and lower cholesterol, but subsequent supportive

statements by the American Medical Association and the American Heart Associa-

tion softened the effect of the attack.

Increasingly competitive supplies of the former U.S.S.R. and U.S. sunflower

seeds and oil helped erode the international market for U.S. safflower producers.

Safflower oil has the highest level of polyunsaturation of the commercial oils,

and the market has recently stabilized in the United States, northern Europe, and

Japan. In Japan in particular, safflower oil has achieved an increasingly larger shareof the gift pack market, wherein fancy tins of safflower oil are exchanged during the

summer and Christmas gift-giving seasons.

Industrial use of safflower oil has declined to 23% of the total market.

Conjugated safflower oil (52) competes with dehydrated castor or tung oils and

very high quality alkyds. Table 1 illustrates the rise and fall of safflower supply

and disappearance in the United States in comparison with major and minor

crops (53).

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TABLE 1. Edible Fats and Oils: U.S. Supply and Disappearance, 106 lb.

Item 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998

Stocks Octobera

Coconut 277 188 251 164 163 84 150 393

Corn 138 196 150 118 241 116 129 102

Cottonseed 137 78 81 106 82 94 66 79 Lard 24 27 26 34 24 23 20 40

Palm 53 44 33 35 15 31 46 35

Palm kernel 53 49 88 73 55 22 51 64

Peanutc 25 51 50 25 40 65 86 41

Safflower 28 28 18 31 21 44 27 38

Soybean 1,786 2,239 1,555 1,103 1,137 2,015 1,520 1,382

Sunflower 47 100 56 65 82 147 93 60

Canola 41 71 67 137 54 77 65 112

Tallow, edible 41 33 41 36 52 34 48 46

Imports

Coconut 841 1,163 999 1,100 874 1,188 1,438 791

Corn 5 7 7 10 11 14 28 42

Cottonseed 18 38 26 0 0 0 0 48

Lard 2 3 3 2 2 1 2 2

Olive 216 253 262 260 227 304 333 355

Palm 220 267 368 218 236 322 282 284

Palm kernel 342 302 304 280 262 392 359 401

Peanutc 1 0 11 4 5 14 10 73

Canola 815 861 902 938 1,086 1,075 1,088 1,060 Safflower 22 15 16 26 35 30 51 51

Soybean 1 10 68 17 95 53 60 83

Sunflower 9 0 7 1 2 22 8 5

Tallow, edible 6 10 15 18 8 5 2 3

Production

Corn 1,821 1,878 1,906 2,227 2,139 2,231 2,335 2,374

Cottonseed 1,280 1,126 1,119 1,312 1,229 1,216 1,224 832


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TABLE 1 (Continued)

Item 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998

Lard 1,016 1,011 1,015 1,052 1,013 979 1,065 1,106

Peanutc 356 286 212 314 321 221 176 145

Canola 32 49 406 299 355 342 451 548

Safflower 69 87 111 115 127 103 115 111 Soybean 14,345 13,778 13,951 15,613 15,240 15,752 18,143 18,078

Sunflower 911 730 580 1,165 860 840 959 1,177

Tallow, edible 1,515 1,414 1,535 1,550 1,559 1,407 1,517 1,677

Exports

Coconut 22 0 19 18 12 12 6 11

Corn 566 712 717 865 977 988 1,118 989

Cottonseed 269 184 248 329 221 232 208 111

Lard 131 129 119 140 94 103 122 140

Olive 20 15 11 21 24 21 19 15

Palm kernel 2 9 4 2 2 2 2 2

Palm 7 7 7 13 20 9 11 11

Peanutc 151 52 61 97 108 21 13 10

Canola 15 16 76 153 147 295 349 272

Safflower 73 65 75 93 122 83 83 92

Soybean 1,644 1,461 1,531 2,683 992 2,033 3,079 2,372

Sunflower 471 586 450 978 628 709 815 800

Tallow, edibled 333 306 316 277 241 181 236 322

Domestic disappearance

Coconut 910 1,084 1,067 1,083 941 1,111 1,189 1,021 Corn 1,202 1,220 1,228 1,250 1,298 1,244 1,271 1,394

Cottonseed 1,088 975 873 1,007 996 1,012 1,004 772

Lard 885 886 890 924 922 880 925 987

Olive 216 253 262 260 227 304 333 355

Palm 223 271 359 225 201 298 282 260

Palm kernel 344 254 315 295 293 362 344 390

Peanut 179 236 187 206 193 194 217 208


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Canola 801 898 1,162 1,165 1,271 1,134 1,143 1,287

Safflower 15 47 40 57 17 67 73 59

Soybean 12,248 13,012 12,939 12,913 13,465 14,267 15,262 15,652

Sunflower 396 188 129 171 168 207 186 320

Tallow, edible 1,197 1,109 1,239 1,275 1,345 1,218 1,286 1,360

a Preliminary and estimated.

b ERS and WAOB forecast.cAugust-July year beginning 1982.d Disappearance, as defined by the USDA-ERS, means beginning food stocks, production, and imports minus expo

Source: Bureau of the Census.


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In 1957, scientists in Australia and California independently reported a mutation

that came to be known as oleic safflower (5456). This mutation occurred naturallyand produces a plant and seed that look exactly like linoleic safflower, except for an

oil whose fatty acid distribution is a mirror image of linoleic safflower oil (Table 2).

The initial oleic safflower variety released by Knowles, UC-1 (57), was lower in oil

content and had a poorer yield than conventional varieties available at the time.

This meant that oleic safflower oil was initially sold at a premium. But agronomic

research has since produced varieties that equal or even exceed normal safflower in

yield and that are comparable in oil content.

Oleic safflower oil interested buyers in Japan and the United States when it wasfirst commercially releasedin Japan as an ingredient for a new mayonnaise and in

the United States as a replacement for peanut oil in most of Frito-Lays western

plants. These markets evaporated, however, when producers were forced to raise

prices because of increasing competition with wheat for western farmland. The

development of markets for oleic safflower oil has been a constant series of steps

forward and then back. The oil has enjoyed good success as an ingredient in arti-

ficial baby milks (because of its excellent stability), in production of premium chips

and snacks (again because of its stability and good frying characteristics), in theproduction of cocoa butter substitutes, and as an oil for blending with olive oil

because of its similar fatty acid structure.

In recent years as more research has focused on the role of monounsaturates ver-

sus polyunsaturates and their effects on cholesterol reduction, oleic safflower oil has

begun to receive more attention. In the United States, Saffola Grocery Products has

introduced a grown-without-pesticides salad oil in which linoleic safflower oil has

been replaced by the oleic type. In Japan, several bottlers have begun to feature

oleic safflower oil in their gift-pack campaign both as an individually identified pro-duct and also in blends with the linoleic type.

The emergence of countries other than the United States as exporters of saf-

flower products became increasingly important. Since 1986, Mexico has been

able to take an increasing percentage of its total supply to world markets, generally

at lower prices than U.S. oils. Earlier, Mexico was limited by government controls

over its exports and poorer varieties of planting seed. These restraints have been

eliminated.

TABLE 2. Typical Fatty Acid Composition of Linoleic

and Oleic Safflower Oils (%).

Fatty Acid Normal Oleic

Palmitic 5.25 4.5Stearic 1.50 1.5

Oleic 15.00 77.00

Linoleic 77.00 15.00

Others 1.25 2.00

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TABLE 3. World Safflower Production by Crop Year (Year of Harvest/Milling) (59, 60).a,b

United World

Argentina Australia Ethiopia India Mexico Spain States Total

Year (ha) (t) (ha) (t) (ha) (t) (ha) (t) (ha) (t) (ha) (t) (ha) (t) (ha) (t)

1950 44 19 370 50 30 16 458 91

1951 45 20 390 53 11 9 460 88

1952 45 21 400 56 23 24 482 107

1953 45 21 406 57 26 25 491 109

1954 45 22 410 57 10 13 479 91

1955 45 22 415 60 23 35 497 122

1956 1 46 23 420 55 36 66 517 150

1957 1 46 23 425 60 37 66 523 155

1958 3 2 48 24 430 60 65 67 560 1591959 5 2 48 24 433 63 99 113 599 209

1960 2 1 50 25 435 61 26 32 131 152 658 278

1961 4 2 51 26 440 66 33 41 166 160 709 305

1962 2 2 52 26 445 67 37 47 217 334 768 486

1963 8 5 54 27 450 68 36 47 223 358 761 514

1964 19 13 55 27 455 62 36 47 147 255 710 413

1965 24 10 56 28 460 72 59 80 146 262 746 459

1966 38 25 57 29 462 69 165 236 55 30 182 304 955 701

1967 42 16 59 30 478 72 100 149 70 56 181 311 925 6431968 19 10 60 32 513 78 86 102 55 39 83 169 812 441

1969 11 4 61 34 578 94 145 209 11 5 113 212 939 566

1970 28 9 62 36 580 142 175 288 14 8 102 180 968 673

1971 2 1 34 15 64 39 588 154 265 511 22 13 115 227 1126 891

1972 5 3 11 4 63 24 598 131 199 271 16 8 110 208 1039 676

1973 7 5 12 7 64 24 423 82 198 298 34 20 95 156 874 615

1974 8 8 36 31 64 30 614 191 192 272 34 17 77 150 1054 713

1975 4 3 40 18 64 25 648 212 363 532 34 16 84 175 1269 1001

1976 8 6 13 6 64 30 674 238 185 240 36 20 37 69 1057 632

1977 3 2 39 26 64 30 683 220 404 518 29 13 113 171 1350 9891978 2 2 75 58 64 30 707 188 429 616 15 15 145 186 1443 1108

1979 2 1 54 30 64 30 703 209 528 635 17 14 152 205 1516 1129

1980 1 1 18 8 65 31 733 279 416 480 20 20 84 111 1340 936

1981 1 1 33 20 65 31 720 335 391 372 12 4 65 101 1289 870

1982 1 1 12 20 66 32 749 421 189 221 20 13 72 117 1114 832

1983 2 2 55 31 66 32 782 396 349 277 19 13 35 92 1320 853

1984 3 2 44 32 66 32 831 501 227 209 20 14 89 124 1290 894

1985 3 2 44 28 66 32 870 497 190 180 19 16 88 110 1288 876

1986 14 10 30 19 67 33 911 348 204 161 15 13 148 147 1385 737

1987 15 11 38 25 67 33 892 353 200 219 12 11 107 155 1331 811

1988 15 11 46 41 68 34 1052 462 200 247 18 13 95 146 1498 960

1989 50 33 33 21 68 34 816 445 150 142 7 6 91 159 1219 850

1990 50 35 19 10 69 34 842 487 157 159 1 1 108 139 1248 873

1991 50 35 37 24 69 35 821 327 94 88 84 115 1160 620

1992 50 35 34 32 69 35 831 350 80 82 136 148 1199 690

aIn units of 1000.bSome data from PVO, Agricom International, and Oilseeds International, Ltd.

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2. PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL PROPERTIES

2.1. Safflower Seed

Safflower seed (technically an achene) (61) consists of a tough fibrous hull that pro-tects a kernel comprised of two cotyledons and an embryo. Applewhite (62)

reported that hulls make up 1859% of the seed weight (62), Weiss (63) character-

ized normal hulled seeds as 3849%, and Li et al. (64) noted percentages of

2587.5%. This diversity also shows up in seed weight per 1000 seeds (14105 g),

oil content (11.4847.45%), and fatty acid distribution (linoleic acid, 11.13

85.6%; oleic acid, 6.7481.84%, stearic acid, 0.014.88%, and palmitic acid,

2.129.03%) (57).

Safflower seeds are normally cream to white, but since 1960, breeding hasresulted in great variation in color, ranging from normal hull to thin hull (which

tend to show part of the underlying colored layers) to types with gray, purple, or

brown-striped hulls. Most of this research has been aimed at creating a thinner

hull to increase oil content (Table 4). Although reduction of the hull fraction

TABLE 4. Analyses of U.S. Safflower Seed (65).a

Type Oil Protein Fiber

Analyses of whole seed

Gila 38.1 16.7 22.3

U-5 38.5 17.2 21.1

US-10 36.8 19.4 22.3

Frio 40.1 15.4 20.8

Thick-hull hybrid 37.8 17.3 21.5

Brown striped 47.7 20.3 11.7

Pigmentless brown striped 42.8 22.5 13.6

Thin hull 47.2 21.1 11.2Analyses of hull

Gila 3.2 4.3 57.1

U-5 2.2 5.0 58.4

US-10 1.4 3.6 60.0

Frio 2.7 4.1 60.4


Brown striped 5.7 8.4 46.9


Thin hull 5.1 10.0 45.3

Analyses of kernel

Gila 60.9 24.9 1.5

U-5 61.8 25.4 1.5

US-10 59.0 29.4 1.5

Frio 64.0 23.0 1.0


Brown-striped 52.7 24.8 0.9


Thin-hull 62.6 25.5 0.9

aAll analyses are percentages on a moisture-free basis.

PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL PROPERTIES 505


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increases valuable oil and protein percentages, too much reduction can produce

other problems. Brown-striped seeds have a distinctly musty odor (66). Thin hull

types can create harvesting, storage, handling, and processing problems (67, 68),

although the more gentle combine harvesters in use for the last decade can probably

deal with the harvesting worry. Brown-striped seeds also were shown to containcolorless precursors in the hull and kernel that could create dark extracted oil

(68). Ways to remove the precursors and color bodies have been published (68, 69).

Three phosphatides have been identified that are responsible for color formation

from oil extracted from the kernel of safflower seed: phosphatidyl ethanolamine,

phosphatidyl myoinositol, and phosphatidyl choline (7072).

Attempts have been made to produce commercial hybrids of safflower seed by

exploiting heterosis to increase seed or oil content yields (7376). In addition, many

Indian scientists have published on the hybrid theory of safflower. POI marketed anear hybrid for a short while, which exhibited oil contents in excess of 50%, but it

was not popular with growers and proved difficult to manage in the oil mill. Cargill

marketed hybrids in India for several years. They were initially popular with

growers because of 25% higher yields than standard varieties, but high production

costs and 25% lower oil content caused the program to be phased out. Other hybrid

work (76) was based on white-flowered genetic male-sterile germplasm (7779),

which in turn resulted from colchicine treatment of an introduction from

Afghanistan.Oleic types of safflower are produced primarily in the United States and to a

minor degree in Mexico. The commonly available types exhibit oleic fatty acid levels

in the 7681% range. Linoleic level decreases proportionally as oleic level increases.

Safflower seeds in the Northern Hemisphere tend to be higher in linoleic acid at

TABLE 5. Characteristics of Commercial Safflower Production.

Protein Linoleic

Country or Oil Moisture (% in Solvent (% in Total

Region Content (%) Extracted Meal) Fatty Acids)

United States

California 39.544 45 25 7578

Arizona 3941.5 45 25 7278

Northern Great Plainsa 2541 59 24 7681

Utah and Idaho 3842 57 25 7678

Canada 3235 59 24 7681

Mexico

San Jose and Quiriego 3038 512 24 6070

Normal types 3537 512 24 7277

U.S. types 3539 612 2324 7277

Argentina 3536 612 2324 7076

India 32 78 2124 7278

China 2832 78 2528 7682

Australia 3538 59 24 7076

aWide range caused by loss of oil content in years of early frost. High, basis-S-541 variety; normal range for

local varieties is 3538%.

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quick-drying oil that could producefilms that would not yellow with age and, more

recently, as an edible oil with the highest available level of polyunsaturation. As an

edible oil, the high level of unsaturation also creates problems. Home consumers

using safflower oil for frying must be careful to clean pans quickly after use or a

tough varnishfilm results, which is difficult to remove. Fresh safflower salad-grade

oil has excellentflavor and odor characteristics, and because it lacks linolenic fatty

acid, it does not display thefishy or beany odors sometimes associated with poorlyrefined soybean oil. Unfortunately, it does have a relatively short shelf life (typi-

cally 912 h AOM), which means the oil should be kept cool after the bottle is

opened to maintain freshness.

Oleic safflower oil displays most of the same characteristics as the linoleic type,

except for its fatty acid structure (see Table 2). It has been noted that a blend of

linoleic and oleic edible oils would improve the dietary value of commercial saf-

flower oil (83). Blends of this type began to be marketed in Japan in 1990 and

appear to be achieving good acceptance by the public.

TABLE 9. Physical and Chemical Characteristics of U.S. Safflower Oil (82).

Usual Range

Characteristic of California Oil Minimuma Maximuma

PhysicalColor (Gardner) 810 11b

Color after heat bleaching, 315.5C (600F) 23b 4b

Color, refined, bleached, deodorizedc 0.51.0 redd 15 yellow and 1.5 redd

Specific gravity, 25/25C 0.9190.924

Refractive index,np 25C 1.4731.476

Titer, C 1517

Flash point, C (F) 148.8(300) 121.1(250)

Chemical

Free fatty acids, % as oleic 0.150.6 2

0.030.05d 0.05d

Saponification value 186194

Iodine value (Wijs) 141147 140 155

Unsaponifiable, % 0.30.6 1.5

Peroxide value (at time of shipment) 01.0d 1.0d

Moisture and volatile, %e 0.030.1 0.8

Insoluble impurities, %f 0.010.1 0.3

Moisture and impurities, % 0.050.1b 0.1b

Principal fatty acids, % TFA

Palmitic 46 Stearic 12

Oleic 1612

Linoleic 7579 72

Linolenic Nil

aPer NIOP trading rules.bNonbreak grade, NIOP.cAOCS method Cc 13b-45.dEdible grade, NIOP.eAOCS method, Ca 2d-25.fAOCS method Ca 3-46.

PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL PROPERTIES 509


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A great variation in fatty acid, oil, and protein levels occurs in the world collec-

tion of safflower seeds. Knowless pioneering work in understanding and subse-

quently finding ways to modify these differences inspired many researchers to

publish extensively on this subject (34, 84). Recently, most research on safflower

oil modification has been performed in the United States by private planting seedcompanies and by the Sidney Experiment Station of Montana State University; lit-

tle has been published.

A few studies have reported on the location of the fatty acids on the triglyceride

in varying ways. One study used argentation TLC with lipase hydrolysis on a sam-

ple of safflower oil from Kenya that contained 10% total saturated fatty acids. It

was found that 2 mol% was configured with two saturated acyl chains (S) and

one unsaturated acyl chain (U), 26 mol % had a SU2 configuration, and 72 mol

% had a U3configuration. It was also reported that 3 mol % had two double bondsattached, 3 mol % had three double bonds, 23 mol % had four double bonds, 19 mol

% had five double bonds, and 47 mol % had six or seven double bonds (85).

Another study measured the position of linoleic acid on the triglyceride in a study

on hydrogenation (86). It was found that 84.6 mol % of linoleic acid was located in

the 2-position in a safflower oil containing 76.4% linoleic acid.

2.3. Safflower MealThe by-product of the extraction of safflower oil is a grayish tan to brown cake

or meal that exhibits flakes or shreds of whitish safflower hulls. Table 10 presents

typical analysis for safflower meal. Most meal produced in the United States is of a

solvent-extracted type. The amino acid and mineral contents of meal are shown in

Table 11.

Australian data from 1959 indicated up to 17,324 kg/ha of green matter

(2762 kg/ha of dry matter) could be gained by grazing safflower as a green crop

TABLE 10. Typical Analyses for U.S. Safflower Meal (87).

Characteristic Aa Bb Cc Dd

Crude protein, % 21.03 20.00 42.0 25.4

Crude fat, % 6.6 0.5 1.3 1.5

Moisture, % 9.0 10.0 9.2 8.0

Crudefiber, % 32.2 37.0 15.1 32.5

Ash 3.7 5.0 7.8 5.9Calcium, % 0.23 0.24 0.4 0.37

Total phosphorus, % 0.61 0.24 0.4 0.8

NFE, % 40.0

TDN, % 57.0

aExpeller pressing of safflower seed without decortication.bThe low end fraction of meal that resulted from prepresssolvent extraction of safflower seed followed by two

fraction tail-end decortication.cThe high end fraction of meal that resulted from prepresssolvent extraction of safflower seed followed by

two-fraction tail-end decortication.dPrepresssolvent extraction of safflower seed without decortication. Typical California, 1992.

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with 1112% protein (22). Indian researchers have presented several papers thatshowed promise concerning the production of fodder and ratoon seed in northern

India (8292). In 1993, a U.S. farmer was able to harvest approximately

8000 kg/ha of green hay, which measured 18% protein from a safflower crop that

failed to mature.

3. PROCESSING

3.1. Extraction

Much of the safflower processed in India in the past was crushed by a mortar-and-

pestle-like device called a ghani. Seed was cleaned by hand and then introduced

into a chakki. This machine, which consisted of two horizontal stone wheels, one

of which was turned by a blindfolded bullock, partially dehulled the cleaned seed

passing between the stones. Hand winnowing and sieving next removed the hulls

from the seed kernels. The meats were pressed into balls after the addition of about

6% water. About 15 kg of the balled kernels were introduced into the ghani, aninverted conical mortar into which a heavy pole was placed. The pole was held to

the side of the mortar by heavy weights and dragged around the perimeter by a team

of oxen. A small amount of heated oil was added, and crushing then proceeded for

45 min, after which the oil was allowed to drain out through a small hole. A ghani

could process about 100120 kg of seed per day.

More recently, ghanis capable of processing 150175 kg per day were some-

times motor driven. Animal-powered ghanis could obtain 1116% residual oil in

the extracted meats, while motor driven models could extract 1012%. Today,

TABLE 11. Amino Acids and Minerals in Safflower Meal (87, 88).a

Factor A B C

Methionine 0.4 0.33 0.69

Cystine 0.5 0.35 0.7Lysine 0.7 0.7 1.3

Tryptophane 0.3 0.26 0.6

Threonine 0.47 0.5 1.35

Isoleucine 0.28 0.27 1.7

Histidine 0.48 0.5 1.0

Valine 1.0 1.0 2.3

Leucine 1.1 1.2 2.5

Arginine 1.2 1.9 3.7

Phenylalinine 1.0 1.0 1.85

Glycine 1.1 1.1 2.4Calcium 0.28 0.37 0.44

Phosphorus 0.78 0.80 1.41

Potassium 0.79 0.79 1.33

Magnesium 0.36 0.37 1.33

aSee Table 10 for explanation of A, B, and C. Numbers are percents.

PROCESSING 511


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some cast-ironghanis, expellers, and solvent-extraction plants are used, in addition

to the older stone devices (9395). The oil extracted by a ghaniis clarified by set-

tling and decanting or by water washing. The oil is placed in tins for local sale.

Most safflower was first processed in the United States by continuous screw

press expellers. Some processors attempted decortication, but the nature of saf-flower seed acts against successful decortication. To prevent the oil from scorching,

water-cooled shafts were recommended. Oil so treated could easily be heat

bleached to a level below 4 Gardner color. Expellers such as the Anderson Super

Duo Duplex could process about 15 t of safflower seed per day, leaving 78% resi-

dual oil in the remaining cake. However, the principal problem encountered in pro-

cessing safflower seed through expellers was the propensity of expeller-processed

safflower meal to burn in storage (96). The combination of a reactive polyunsatu-

rated residual and the fibrous texture of safflower meal created many fires in the1950s and early 1960s. Once safflower processing shifted to prepresssolvent

extraction, which brought residual oil contents down below 1.5%, most storage pro-

blems were eliminated.

These same expellers, if employed in a prepressing mode wherein 1517% resi-

dual oil remains in the cake that is sent to the solvent extraction unit, can process

4550 t of seed per day. Prepressing of safflower produced under California

conditions (or the equivalent) requires no cooking, flaking, or cracking of the

seed before extraction and results in oil capable of being heat bleached to 13Gardner color.

In the early 1960s, PVO produced an air gun device that decorticated safflower

seed satisfactorily, but the idea was abandoned because it required too much energy

and was extremely noisy (34). A PVO researcher developed a method for decorti-

cating safflower meal after extraction, which employed the principle that the fine

particles produced in grinding safflower cake are high in protein and the coarser

particles are more fibrous (97). This method, using vertical hammer mills to grind

the cake and a combination of air classification and screening was employed byseveral California mills in the 1960s and 1970s to produce safflower meal of

42% protein, in addition to an 1820% protein middle fraction and a 6% protein

hull fraction. More recently, most mills have returned to only producing as is

meal of approximately 25% protein content, because the high amount of energy

consumed by the tail-end process cost more than the additional return gained

from the high protein fraction.

The high cost of energy encouraged some mills in the 1980s and 1990s to

replace or supplement prepress expellers with caged expander-extruders, whichare capable of removing approximately 66% of the available oil through the caged

portion of the extruder and to produce collets that are ideal for efficient solvent frac-

tion. Extruders require much less horsepower per ton of seed processed than expel-

lers and cost less to maintain (98100).

Horizontal basket or moving bed solvent extractors are preferred over vertical

tower extractors in processing safflower cake. The fibrous nature of safflower pro-

vides a natural channel through which the solvent can move, and the bed acts as

a natural filter medium. Tower extractors generally have problems extracting

512 SAFFLOWER OIL


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safflower seed because the hulls tend to float, sometimes carry over in the top of the

extractor, and cause excessive wear in a towers rotary seal.

3.2. Refining, Bleaching, and DeodorizingSafflower oil that is extracted from seed in good condition is easy to refine because

it is low in FFA and contains few gums or impurities. Conventional caustic refining

systems work well. This most important factor in handling safflower oil, destined

for edible use, is to limit exposure to air throughout the extraction, refining, bleach-

ing, deodorizing, and packaging cycle. Nitrogen blanketing should be employed if

deodorized oil is to be stored for more than a few hours. Generally speaking, saf-

flower oil processed by expeller processing will contain just enough free fatty acids

and impurities to require refining before deodorization; in most cases, safflower oilprepressed from California, Arizona, or northern Mexico seed can be introduced

directly to deodorizers. California prepress oil normally will meet a varnish makers

nonbreak grade without further processing.

Safflower seed that is produced in areas with late summer rains or cool weather

cycles that interfere with maturation can produce dark-colored or greenish oils that

are often higher in FFA as well. If the seed has sprouted before or during harvest or

has been attacked by Alternaria, Pseudomonas, or other head-rot diseases, the

resulting oil can be quite difficult to refine and extremely difficult to bleach.While safflower oil may, on occasion, display minute traces of a fine, lacy wax

(101), most U.S. refiners neither winterize nor dewax safflower oil, feeling that a

brilliant oil can be delivered without it. Japanese refiners generally insist on refining

and bleaching safflower oil to under 1.0 red color, followed by winterization to

avoid problems with minute amounts of wax that may appear in the oil in the winter

months in the north.

3.3. Production of Margarine and Mayonnaise

If proper steps are not taken, physical crystal changes (polymorphism) can take

place in the production of safflower margarines, resulting in a product with a sandy

texture (102). Theb-crystalline form that results consists of large crystals instead of

the smooth, uniform mixture desired in a margarine; safflowers uniform triglycer-

ide structure encourages production ofb-crystals. This problem can be solved by

incorporation of a small amount of more saturated oil into the margarine mix. PVO

solved the problem in its Saffola margarine by adding 5% cottonseed oil, whichalso improved the productsmouthfeel (34). A 1966 patent described a blending

of liquid safflower with selectively hydrogenated safflower and peanut oils (103).

Soft safflower margarines, wherein a highly hydrogenated safflower lattice was

employed to encapsulate a larger portion of liquid safflower oil, have been success-

fully produced by several companies (34). The methods employed to produce these

types of margarine structures have been reviewed (104, 105). It has been shown that

Cr(CO)3catalysts can be used to selectively hydrogenate safflower oil and retain a

9095% cis configuration (106108). Several studies have reported on safflower oils

PROCESSING 513


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good taste, appearance, odor, and texture in mayonnaise and frozen salad dressings,

where it exhibits excellent qualities in repeated freezethaw cycles (34, 102,

109, 110).

3.4. Industrial Processing

Although this Chapter is concerned with oils that are used in edible products, it is

well to remember that safflower oils recognition in modern times occurred because

of interest in its excellent properties as a semidrying oil. Safflower oils light color,

ability to heat bleach to near water whiteness, low level of free fatty acids and

impurities, and lack of linolenic acid make it an ideal vehicle for white house paints

and varnishes and for the production of alkyd resins. It is easy to polymerize via

kettle bodying without the need for vacuum equipment; capable of producing excel-lent blown, limed, or maleated oils; and acts as a good source for conjugation or

methyl esters (34).

4. ECONOMICS AND MARKETING

As mentioned, safflower is a crop that has been grown for thousands of years, pri-

marily for local use. As people traveled they carried safflower seeds with them, gen-erally for personal use. It is only in recent times that safflower has entered world

commerce; still much of what is produced remains in the country where it is grown.

The price of wheat has been the dominant factor affecting the price that U.S.

farmers must receive for safflower seed to put safflower into their cropping plans.

In its early years of U.S. production, safflower oil competed directly with soybean

oil for market share and soybean futures on the Chicago Board of Trade, offered as

a reasonable medium for hedging safflower seed and oil prices. But, more recently,

safflower prices have borne little relationship to the market for soybean oil, and saf-flower oil has become a product that is impossible to hedge.

In 1997, U.S. farm wholesale prices were the following: safflower oil, tanks,

$0.59 lb; soybean oil, tanks, $0.24/lb. In 2002, prices for were safflower oil, tanks,

$0.79/lb, soybean oil, tanks, $0.19/lb (53).

4.1. Safflower Seed

In the United States, most safflower seed is grown by farmers who have agreed to acontract of sale with an oil mill or grain dealer before planting the crop. Because

there is no daily market for safflower seed posted in the newspaper and there are no

quotations available from the commodity futures markets, most banks or other

financing agencies encourage farmers to contract their crop in advance. There is

no other way for the bank to protect any funds that have been loaned with the

crop as collateral.

The usual safflower production contracts state that the farmer will deliver the

entire yield from a given number of acres or hectares. The buyer assumes the

514 SAFFLOWER OIL


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risk of yield. Besides stating the number of hectares to be planted and their location,

contracts usually specify the type of planting seed, the name of a landlord (if any),

what compensation he or she is to receive, and of course, the price and point of

delivery.

The National Institute of Oilseed Products (NIOP) publishes an annual rule bookthat covers specifications and standards of trade for many vegetable oils, including

safflower and oleic safflower. Rules 7.1 g and h (formerly 110 g and h) and 7.1 i

(formerly 110 i) are the NIOP rules for safflower seed and oleic seed, respectively.

When combined with the state of Californias official standards for safflower seed,

little room exists for argument as to the meaning of a contract between buyer and

seller.

Safflower seed is usually sold domestically on a dockage-free basis with no limit

on the amount of dockage a shipment of seed might contain. Dockage is defined asany foreign material plus parts of the safflower plant other than seed, empty or

partly filled seeds and broken parts of the seed small enough to pass through a

screen opening of 1.78 mm. Moisture content is required to be


26/46

disputes. Moisture content and refractive index (if oleic safflower is delivered) of

the parcel is checked immediately and a carefully split portion of the sample is then

forwarded to the nearest state of California or other independent laboratory for

determination of dockage or, should the sampled seed be defective, other factors.

In other states besides California and Arizona, the purchase contract specifies aprice that is based on a dockage-free sample, a certain level of oil content, and the

moisture content at the time of delivery. This is necessary because of the effect that

cold temperatures, rain, snow, disease, or drought can have on the oil content of an

individual crop. In California and Arizona, little variation in oil content occurs from

year to year in a particular variety of safflower. In the northern Great Plains states,

the oil content of a seed that might be 3840% in a normal year can be as low as

2025% under adverse conditions. In the mountain states, these variations are

usually less extreme. Safflower seed in the Great Plains is normally purchased ona 38% oil content basis (sometimes 40% is used as a basis) with reciprocal allow-

ance of 2% for each 1% variation in oil content (fractions in proportion) applied to

the agreed on price.

Because the United States does not use the metric system, prices in California

and Arizona are normally quoted in dollars per short ton of (2000 lb, 907.185 kg)

and in the Great Plains and mountain states most transactions are fixed in cents per

pound (453.59 g). In the rest of the world, metric tons or quintals prevail, except in

some parts of India and China. Prices paid to farmers in various parts of the UnitedStates vary because of quality and distance from final markets.

The price offered for safflower seed in California is shaped by several market

elements. The principal factor is the amount of land in the central valley that

will be committed to rice, cotton, and tomatoes, the three primary income-produ-

cing crops in the area. Safflower, sugar beets, grain, and corn compete for the

remaining cultivated land; the competition between wheat and safflower is the

most intense. Experienced farmers favor safflower over wheat if the contracting

price for safflower multiplied by an average yield of 2.5 tons/ha equals or exceedsthe perceived price for wheat multiplied by a yield of 5.06.0 tons/ha. Safflower

buyers usually begin negotiating with farmers in October, since farmers must

make the decision to withhold planting wheat at that time. Wheat is normally

planted in late November through January, and safflower is planted during February

through April. During the 1980s the acreage of safflower planted in California

would decline sharply when prices fell below $275/t. In the 1990s, this value

was about $330/t, because of inflation and the increasing prices for other crops.

The second factor that affects the price of safflower is the condition of the mar-ket for safflower oil. For example, there may be a surplus of oil from the previous

crop, Mexico may be forecasting a large harvest (which occurs 34 months before

the U.S. harvest), or Japanese buyers may be experiencing a slowdown in their

domestic market.

Because safflower oil is a specialty that serves a market that responds little, if at

all, to price changes, these two factors tend to slow down dealers desire to buy the

seed, and a rationing process takes place. Dealers either delay their opening gambits

to contract for safflower seed from the next crop or offer low prices that do not

516 SAFFLOWER OIL


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compete with other alternatives. Side issues that affect supply (drought, disease, or

floods; longshore or transportation strikes; etc.) and price (changes in government

support for competing crops or in import or export regulations, etc.) also affect

these decisions. Safflower prices are not affected by prices for other commodity

types of oils such as sunflower, soya, and canola, except in periods of wild upwardprice movements. If prices for other oils climb above $880/t safflower oil prices

move up accordingly or the safflower oil disappears into export markets as a

replacement.

Of course, the demand for safflower can be changed by longer-term fundamental

changes. In Japan, safflower oil is identified as an eminently healthy oil that is given

as a gift. Should medical research find that polyunsaturates, and particularly saf-

flower oil, cause medical problems that outweigh its benefits, demand for the oil

would crumble. On the other hand, if long-term medical studies show that mono-unsaturates, including oleic safflower oil, are preferred over the types of oils, even

over linoleic safflower oil, there might be a shift in the ratio of linoleic to oleic

safflower oil consumption. This appears to be happening in Japan.

Safflower seeds produced in California are located close to the ultimate domestic

safflower oil markets as well as near export terminals for ocean shipping to Japan or

Europe. Safflower seeds produced in the Great Plains, however, are generally priced

$50/t below California prices for several reasons. First, Great Plains safflower seed

is generally 35% lower in oil content than western seed, and in years of bad weath-er it can be much lower. Second, while the oil produced therefrom is generally

24% higher in linoleic fatty acid than California seed, it is normally 0.25% higher

in FFA and 12 Gardner color units higher, with generally a greenish tinge, all of

which necessitates higher refining and bleaching costs. Great Plains prepress oil

normally cannot be deodorized without prior refining. Finally, Great Plains seed

must face a long railroad trip to markets in California, or if delivered locally for

processing, the oil and meal produced from it face long trips to consumer markets.

Safflower growers in the mountain states face similar discounting problems. Moun-tain-grown seed usually is closer to California seed in quality but has no local

milling or customer base so all seed must be delivered over a long distance.

These factors do not apply to the markets for safflower seed sold for bird feed.

Birdseed buyersspecifications emphasize seed color (pure white seed is preferred)

test weight (a weight in excess of 0.4739 kg/L is desired), and purity (less than 1

2% foreign material is preferred). Oil content is not a factor. Seeds that have heavy

white hulls and, accordingly, low oil content are preferred for birdseed use. Conse-

quently, birdseed buyers, whose customers are located predominantly in the easternhalf of the United States or overseas, prefer to contract in the Great Plains and

mountain states, where they compete with $50/ton lower seed prices and enjoy a

$4050/ton freight advantage to eastern markets.

It is hard to judge the exact size of the market for birdseed safflower, but as feed-

ing of wild birds increases in the United States, most dealers believe it has exceeded

20,000 t annually. China generally enjoys the reputation of supplying the best bird-

seed quality, since much of Chinese seed is below 30% in oil content and normally

has white hulls. Weather and transportation factors sometimes increase difficulties

ECONOMICS AND MARKETING 517


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for marketers of Chinese-origin seed. Indian seed was a factor in world birdseed

markets until 1989, when the Indian government banned the exportation of seed

to improve local supplies of oil. This undoubtedly contributed to the increase in

the U.S. birdseed market.

Exportation of safflower seed to Japan was the largest factor in the expansion ofU.S. safflower seed production. When high duties on the oilseeds entering Japan

began to be relaxed, U.S. safflower seed exports declined. Once more than 10 oil

mills were engaged in processing safflower seed in Japan, now only 2 mills con-

tinue to crush safflower seed there. The remainder of Japans needs for safflower

oil are covered by imports of safflower oil. Safflower seed exports are governed

by the NIOP Rule 7.1 g (former Rule 110 g Export). Many factors are involved

in the Domestic Rule (Rule 7.1 h), but export terms require measurement of oil con-

tent and payment of a premium or discount much as most seed is purchased in theGreat Plains states. The export safflower seed rule establishes a price basis point of

34% oil content with a premium/discount of 2% for each 1% of oil content variation

with fractions in proportion. The 34% level is used, even though most seed exported

today is in the range of 4143% oil content, because this was the level of oil content

available when safflowerfirst started being exported. Export rules also allow only a

maximum of 3% dockage for an export shipment to be considered correct, although

provisions are made for allowing shipments containing up to 6% maximum in

exchange for a penalty of an additional 0.2% for shipments measuring between 3and 6% dockage.

Because one oceangoing vessel normally carries 3,0005,000 t, and up to

15,000 t, the sampling methods are different from those used for truckloads. The

NIOP rules call for oil, moisture, and dockage analyses to be performed separately

on samples representing each 1,000 t, or fraction thereof, loaded on a vessel. In the

case of oil content analyses, identical samples of each 1,000-t lot are presented to

five different independent laboratories, each laboratory reports its analyses for the

entire load on a weighted average basis, the results of the laboratory with the high-est and lowest oil contents are discarded and the results of the remaining three are

averaged and used for payment purposes. In this manner a fair analysis is made,

because safflower oil content is difficult to measure accurately.

Almost all safflower seed exported to Japan from the United States has come

from California and in some years, Arizona. This is because the Japanese prefer

the quality of West Coast production, preferring not to pay a high ocean freight

cost on a seed that is lower in oil content; generally produces higher color and refin-

ing costs; and may contain the fungus Sclerontinia sclerotina, which althoughfound regularly in the Great Plains has not yet been observed in California. Japan

imports some safflower seed from Australia and a small quantity from China, to

obtain the 80% linoleic safflower oil that Chinese seed can guarantee. Japan

also imported safflower seed from Mexico at one time. The United States has

exported safflower seed to Europe, but recently the high price of safflower seed

and low value of safflower meal in Europe have made the processing of safflower

seed impractical, and imports have been confined to safflower or oleic safflower

oils.

518 SAFFLOWER OIL


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4.2. Safflower Oil

In todays marketplace safflower occupies a unique position. It is the oil with the

highest level of linoleic acid available commercially. It continues to enjoy a favor-

able reputation in the mind of consumers, which is a legacy of the polyunsaturatedboom of the 1960s. Most safflower oil produced today reaches consumers as a

refined, deodorized, and bleached salad oil; as a principal ingredient in margarine;

and in several forms of mayonnaise and salad dressings. A small percentage of the

total oil produced, primarily prepress oil, is bottled and sold to consumers without

any further refining, bleaching, or treatment of any kind other thanfiltration. In the

United States and Europe, a small segment of the market wants an oil that has not

been exposed to chemicals (in this case hexane). Bottled prepress oil generally has

a short shelf life, perhaps of less than 2 weeks, and once opened the oil needs to berefrigerated so it does not develop strong odors.

Two sellers dominate the U.S. grocery market for all safflower-edible products,

although a number of other companies produce small quantities for health food

venues. Bottled safflower salad oil generally retails at more than $1 per bottle high-

er than canola, corn, sunflower, or soybean oil. Customers for safflower oil make up

a small but dedicated segment of the market. Safflower salad oil brands have never

achieved over a 7% market share, and without heavy advertising, this level drops

in half.In Japan, the premium price is almost an advantage, and the companies market-

ing safflower oil enjoy better margins for the product than other oils produce. They

exert strict quality controls, market the oil in beautiful and expensive gift packs, and

engage in heavy advertising to maintain market share. In Japans gift-giving sea-

sons, safflower oil has achieved a premier status among all oils. Some say it has

captured up to 85% of this market.

In Mexico, safflower oil occupied a preferred status for many years in grocery

stores catering to the affluent. When first produced in Mexico, a sizable portion ofthe safflower oil produced was used as an adulterant in sesame oil. Over time, saf-

flower became the premier oil in the marketplace and puro cartamo would com-

mand a substantial premium. Safflower oil itself soon began to be adulterated

with sunflower and other oils, and eventually consumers became aware of this

and switched loyalty to branded oils that were cheaper. Little safflower oil is found

in Mexico because it is generally exported to the United States or Europe, and lower

priced sunflower, canola, or soybean oil is imported in its place.

A similar situation has taken place in Australia, where the bulk of safflowergrown is no longer processed for the local market but is exported as seed or oil.

A small amount of Australias safflower total is devoted to producing so-called

organic safflower oil. Because Australia still has virgin farmland, it is possible to

produce a crop of safflower using no herbicides, insecticides, or fertilizer. Some

organic safflower oil is also produced in the United States. In the last 3 years the

most successful program has been operated by Saffola Grocery Products Co., which

markets so-called Grown Without Pesticides safflower oil. Saffola has chosen to use

this method, because it wishes to establish its own definition for thepurityof its



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product, in contrast to organic oils, which are usually defined by government edict,

subject to periodic change. The Grown Without Pesticides (GWP) regime requires

that the safflower is planted on land that has had no chemicals applied to it for at

least 6 months and that shows no residue levels. The farmer is allowed to apply

fertilizer but no planting seed fungicides (allowed in organic farming) or other che-micals. A thorough auditing scheme that includes inspection of the crop throughout

the growth cycle and inspection of harvesters, trucks, and storage facilities for

cleanliness and lack of chemical sprays is employed. This is more rigorous than

the standards employed by the organic industry, which works primarily on the hon-

or system.

The GWP program for oleic safflower oil has been successful when there is hea-

vy advertising. Saffola has not been able to expand beyond the regional market

because of the cost of advertising. The Japanese gift-pack market, which alsouses heavy advertising, includes some oleic safflower oil. One manufacturer is sell-

ing a blend of linoleic and oleic safflower oils to combine the good attributes of

both oils in a single package; its largest competitor markets the oils separately to

give the customer a choice.

In India much oil is still sold by small mills that simply filter oil from the press

and supply the product in small tins or even in the consumers own vessel. Safflower

production is by and large a neighborhood affair in India. While the government is

encouraging more production of all types of oilseeds, sunflower, which has muchwider adaptation than safflower, enjoyed spectacular increase in production in the

1990s.

The European market consists of three areas. First, safflower oil is an ingredient

in sunflower-based margarines, helping to maintain a guaranteed level of polyunsa-

turation. This market area may be in decline, because some manufacturers lowered

their polyunsaturated guarantee levels in early 1994, opting perhaps to feature low

saturation or higher monounsaturation attributes in the future. Safflower oil also

finds a small but dedicated audience because of its high level of unsaturation. Aportion of this market prefers to use either unrefined prepress oil or a form that

has been gently deodorized. The third market area is for safflower, and particularly

oleic safflower, oil that is used for blending with other oils. When safflower oil

became more expensive than other oils, this market area virtually vanished.

Much more rigorous and sophisticated control measures by government authorities

have also restricted attempts at blending.

Like safflower seed most safflower oil also is traded under rules established by

the National Institute of Oilseed Products, in this case Rule 6.11 and 6.12. Rules forboth domestic and export shipments are in force, with the primary difference being

that the export rules require more analyses to be performed before payment. Of

course, some U.S. buyers, many of whom have never heard of the NIOP, establish

their own specifications for the safflower oil they purchase, but by and large their

standards meet or exceed the NIOP grades.

It is outside the scope of this article to examine the medical literature that fueled

the polyunsaturated boom of the 1960s (34) and that has continued to provide

impetus to the U.S., European, and Japanese safflower oil markets. Whether

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monounsaturation or simply lack of saturation will become the wave of the futureis unknown, but from an historic viewpoint it is interesting to observe how oleic

safflower production slowly increased since the crop was introduced in 1967

(Table 12).

In the United States in 2003, 221 103 acres of safflower were planted and

212 103 acres were harvested. Forecasts for 2004 are for 142 103 acres to be

planted and 133 103 acres to be harvested (111).

4.3. Safflower Meal

Safflower meal, the by-product of the production of safflower oil, contains all of the

hull. The highfiber content of the hull limits its value. In California, safflower meal

is employed primarily as an ingredient in dairy feeds; it is also used in beef cattle

feed and to a limited extent in poultry mixes. In the 1960s and 1970s, when saf-

flower meal was being decorticated by the tail end process, the resultant high

(3842%) protein fraction found good employment in chicken and turkey rations.

PVO produced three meal fractions of 42, 20, and 6% protein. Although PVO and

TABLE 12. Historic U.S. Oleic Safflower Plantings and Production.

Crop Year Plantings (ha) Production (t)

1967 405 953

1968 5,221 11,0311969 8,580 23,014

1970 5,868 12,973

1971 13,462 32,922

1972 8,843 20,321

1973 15,480 24,222

1974 11,615 22,801

1975 21,004 43,316

1976 9,632 23,678

1977 9,594 24,540

1978 14,569 21,0371979 19,010 36,940

1980 13,345 31,351

1981 9,340 24,721

1982 4,856 12,701

1983 4,917 12,610

1984 11,550 31,026

1985 10,958 27,994

1986 11,635 31,425

1987 4,290 11,3401988 8,094 20,684

1989 10,805 29,393

1990 11,343 29,908

1991 10,891 22,803

1992 33,634 48,680

1993 36,430 73,564



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others spent considerable time searching for alternative uses for safflower hulls, the

best bet in that period was to export the 6% fraction to Japan, where safflower hulls

were used as low cost filler in many types of compound feeds. Japan was also a

regular consumer of 20% protein (sometimes purchased basis 20% proteinfat com-

bined analysis), but in todays market, safflower meal from the United States is notcompetitive in the Japanese market.

Safflower hulls find their best market when incorporated in safflower meal, and

none has been produced separately for many years in the United States, because

most mills produced only two fractions when decorticating, 20 and 42% portions.

Today, the energy consumed in separating safflower meal fractions exceeds the

premium that can be gained from the high protein fraction, so most mills confine

themselves to offering as is meal of 25% protein.

Numerous studies have shown safflower oil to be a good feed product for beefcattle (112116), dairy cattle (117119), poultry (120123), and lamb (124127),

and is generally available at price levels that are similar to the lowest prices for

alfalfa hay, grain screenings, almond hulls, and other low protein feeds.

Promising experiments have been done to produce protein flour or protein iso-

lates from safflower meal. The USDA compared safflower protein isolate with

isolate from soy and found the safflower product to be quite useful. The study

also outlined the cost of investment and production for the process envisioned

(128130). Other researchers have written extensively on this subject (131134).A factory would need considerably more than the total U.S. supply of safflower

meal to produce an economically viable protein isolate. Unless a scientific break-

through can materially reduce the hull portion of a safflower seed while retaining

satisfactory yields, meal will continue to sell for a modest price and to be consid-

ered a second-rank product. NIOP Rules 8.1.18.1.3 established the factors guiding

the trade in safflower meal.

5. QUALITY ASSESSMENT

Although most of the standard tests for measuring physical and chemical character-

istics of a product work well for safflower seed and its products, some unique

problems have arisen over the years.

5.1. Safflower SeedWhen safflower wasfirst introduced into the United States, the Fred Stein Co. was

the first to produce a chart, the Steinlite moisture meter, calibrated specifically for

safflower seed, allowing moisture to be rapidly and correctly determined at the

elevator. Most moisture meters available today work well on safflower seed.

During its growth cycle, a safflower head will respond to the amount of moisture

available. If there is plenty of moisture, many of the individual seeds that have

begun to form in the head willfill completely. If moisture is restricted or if a sudden

trauma such as disease or removal of water occurs, some of the seeds that have

522 SAFFLOWER OIL


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begun tofill will stopfilling and others will not even begin. This results in a mixture

in each safflower head of some seeds that are plump and completely filled and

others that appear to be the same but that, on inspection, are empty or only partially

filled. For the laboratories performing dockage tests on the thousands of samples

representing each truckload delivered, it can be a daunting task to find which seedsare empty or partiallyfilled. Originally, the dockage analysis method adopted by the

state of California employed a series of hand screens, followed by winnowing

through a Bates aspirator and hand picking of the resultant sample to find empty

seeds that escaped the aspirator. This method was too slow, and when used to mea-

sure samples containing high amounts of empty hulls, as is often encountered in

Great Plains safflower, up to 30 passes through an aspirator were required to find

all empties.

During the 1950s and early 1960s, PVO and the California State Department ofAgriculture performed hundreds of experiments together aimed at producing a sim-

pler and more reproducible test for dockage. As a result, modifications to the Carter

Dockage Tester were developed that allow consistent measurement of dockage.

This method was adopted by the California Department of Agriculture and by

the NIOP, incorporating the procedure as part of Rules 7.1 g D and E (135).

Determining the oil content of safflower seed in the laboratory by solvent

extraction is also more difficult than for other oilseeds because of the vast differ-

ence in texture of the hull compared to the kernel within. The hull must be crackedor all of the oil will not be extracted. But in cracking the seed, the kernel tends

to mash as well and small amounts of oil can be lost in the process, a small amount

is important when the sample contains only 5 g of seed. Since many people

expressed dissatisfaction in safflower oil content analyses, PVOs control labora-

tory worked for a long time to develop a better method than the standard AOCS

procedure (136). This method of analysis is now part of the NIOP rules for

safflower (137).

The NIOP also conducted extensive tests to develop methods for better samplingof safflower seed. Field run safflower seed is fairly difficult to sample. Although

pure safflower seed is relatively smooth flowing, the seed delivered by a farmer

can contain portions of stalks and stems; parts of the head that held seed; and

leaves, and other foreign material. Safflower seed, which has traveled over bumpy

roads for 50200 km inside a truck, for 3000 km in a railroad hopper car, or for

10000 km in the hold of a heavy grain carrier on its way to Japan, tends to stratify,

and unless the sampling device reaches all levels of the product, the sample is not

representative. Japanese buyers, who were receiving 5,00015,000 tons of safflowerat a time, found that the oil content and dockage analyses performed at time of ship-

ment did not reflect what the oil mills obtained as a final outturn in the milling of

the same seeds. The NIOP adopted standard sampling and dividing procedures

aimed at reducing variation in results, and these procedures now are incorporated

in their rules (138).

It is particularly important to remember that the sample used in analyzing saf-

flower oil contents must be first cleaned of all dockage (including empty hulls),

unlike the common method of measuring sunflower oil contents, which is

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performed on seed containing admixture. This puts a premium on good sampling,

good cleaning, good division of the sample, and consistent performance of the ana-

lysis itself.

Safflower seed oil content can also be determined by the use of nuclear magnetic

resonance (NMR), and today most plant breeders employ NMR techniques to mea-sure their new lines. NMR techniques can be performed on only one half of a seed,

so the other half can be planted if the results of the analysis are promising. In its

earlier versions, processors tended to feel that NMR analysis produced oil content

results that were slightly higher than found by standard solvent extraction analysis

or than what was actually obtained at the oil mill. This has been disproven in the

case of safflower seed, and the industry has adopted NMR analyses in large part

to speed up paperwork. Because of the relatively small amount of safflower seed

being measured for oil content annually, no one has taken the time to prove thatpresent-day NMR procedures should be used to substitute for the standard AOCS

procedure.

The USDA published what may have been the first practical procedure for

quickly determining if a truckload of seed is a linoleic or oleic variety (138). It

involves squeezing a few seeds in a small hand-powered press to obtain a few drops

of oil. A drop of oil is placed on the glass prism cell of a hand-held refractometer.

The refractive index has a straight-line relationship with the iodine value or fatty

acid distribution of the oil, hence it is easy to determine if the seed in questionmeets an oleic standard or not, so long as a temperature correction is applied.

Recently, it has become simpler to compare the unknown sample to a known oil

standard, eliminating the need to apply a temperature correction. Temperature cor-

rections are difficult to measure accurately in the field under the time pressure of

harvest.

5.2. Safflower OilMeasurement of safflower oils various chemical and physical characteristics is

quite straightforward and only minor changes have occurred over 50 years in the

rules governing the safflower trade. In 1990, the requirement for certification that

safflower oil demonstrate a negative halphen test was dropped. The emergence of

better and better GLC technology eliminated the need for a color test of cottonseed

oil adulteration.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture Utilization Laboratories at Philadelphia,

Peoria, and particularly Albany, California, contributed a major body of workthat measured various factors that affect the quality of safflower and its reaction

to various processes. Oxidation reactions of safflower oil and methods for following

heat-generated changes in composition during deep-fat frying were studied in depth

(139143). USDA scientists at Albany (144) and Peoria (145) analyzed the head-

space volatiles of safflower methyl esters and safflower oil, respectively, subjected

to accelerated oxidation and found them to be the most reactive of all oils tested.

One study showed vinyl-n-amylkelone to be the compound responsible for the gen-

eration of metallic off-flavors in oxidized safflower oil (146). USDA researchers

524 SAFFLOWER OIL


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demonstrated the effects of oxyfatty acids, malonaldehyde and diclorocarbenes,

respectively, on oil flavor and storage reactions (147149).

It has been demonstrated that tocopherols in linoleic safflower oil were more

stable than tocopherols in oleic safflower oil (150). The USDA did room odor stu-

dies that showed that oleic safflower did well compared with all other oils used inthe study (151). A broad study was conducted of the effects of various substances

on the oxidation of safflower oil in deep frying (152); of high temperature reactions

in the presence of amino acids (153); and of the effect of amino acids on emulsions

(154), dried emulsions (155, 156), and chemical and organoleptic properties

(155, 156).

5.3. Safflower MealAs mentioned, safflower meal tends to stratify in storage so the principal problem in

quality control is making sure a truly representative sample is obtained. The USDA

Regional Utilization Laboratory at Albany, California, produced a body of work

concerning safflower meal that allows a better understanding of its attributes and

deficiencies. A survey of the world collections for seeds high in lysine was under-

taken (157), and this work has been continued for both lysine and methionine at the

Eastern Experiment Station of Montana State University (158). The work included

studies of safflower steroids (159161). Another study demonstrated how to removedeleterious glucosides from safflower meal and then demonstrated possibilities for

removal of these and other negative factors to make safflower meal a more useful

product (162). Others have isolated three conjugated serotin factors (163) and their

related phenolic factors (164).

6. STORAGE AND TRANSPORTATION

6.1. Safflower Seed

The most important element in the storage of safflower seed is anticipation of pro-

blems. If safflower seed buyers maintain contact with the suppliers and inspect the

fields, most problems can be solved before they escalate. Safflower seed that is

below 8% moisture; is free of green weed, seeds, or trash; and has been brought

to room temperature gradually is quite stable and can be stored indefinitely with

no problem. Arranging for outside cleaning and/or drying before delivery to theoil mill and possible rejection, if the grower is unable to cope with weeds in

the field, is much better than handling such problems on an emergency basis at

time of delivery.

Because oleic and linoleic safflower seeds are virtually identical in appearance,

extreme care is necessary to prevent inadvertent mixing. If a positive paper trail can

be established for identifying fields of linoleic and oleic safflower from time of

planting until delivery to the oil mill or storage point, much more confidence is pos-

sible when the samples are taken an

Documents

2.11Safflower Oil