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| Safflower Production in California |
| Stephen R. Kaffka, Thomas E. Kearney, Paul D. Knowles ‡, and Milton D. Miller1 |
| Introduction |
| Safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) has been grown commercially in California only since 1949. It is, however, one of the world's oldest crops. Seeds have been found in Egyptian tombs over 4,000 years old, and its use was recorded in China approximately 2,200 years ago. Safflower has many uses. The flowers have long been used as a source of yellow and red dyes for clothing and food. In traditional Chinese medicine, safflower petals are regarded as a stimulant for blood circulation and phlegm reduction, the healing of fractures, contusions, and strains, and for various female maladies. In Europe and the Middle East, petals are sometimes used as an adulterant for saffron. Prior to the 1960's in the USA, the oil was used primarily as a base for superior quality paints. More recently, it has also been used in infant formulas and cosmetics. Currently, safflower is used as a salad and cooking oil. |
| Worldwide, India is the largest producer of safflower for oil, but most of its production is consumed internally. California has been the second largest producer of safflower and exports much of the oil to Japan. Mexico also has produced large quantities of safflower oil for its domestic consumption and export. Other countries growing safflower include Argentina, Australia, Canada, China, Spain, Italy, Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia, and the former Soviet Union. Acreage and yield trends in California over the last 40 years are depicted in figure 1. Acreage has varied widely from nearly 400,000 to much less than 100,000. Seed yields rose significantly from the 1950s until the 1970s, but have remained relatively stable since that time. |
 Figure 1A. Safflower acreage in California, 1950 to 1997, showing the total acreage planted to safflower and the subset of acres planted to oleic types. Recently, oleic types have almost completely displaced linoleic types of safflower in California. Source: Adapted from Smith 1996 and Gyulai 1997. |
 Figure 1B. Safflower yields in California, 1950 to 1995. Yields increased at approximately 120 pounds per acre (134.4 kg/ha) per year during the first two decades of production in California, but have since remained relatively stable. Yield = -3,078 lb/acre + 119.8 lb/acre/yr - 0.7 year2 (R2 = 0.48). Source: Adapted from Smith 1996. |
 Figure 2. Oil content of selected safflower cultivars, 1940 to 1995. The oil content of safflower cultivars used in California and Arizona has increased at approximately 0.2% per year since approximately 1950. Linoleic oil % = 20.8 + 0.29 (year) (R2 = 0.59); oleic oil % = 22.9 + 0.23 (year) (R2 = 0.55) Source: Adapted from Smith 1996. |
| The earliest reference to safflower culture in the United States comes from a report from the University's Chino research station (1899-1901). It concluded that safflower would thrive over a large part of California, and was easy to produce, but safflower was not established commercially in California at that time. During the period 1930 to 1940, attempts were made to adapt safflower to commercial production in the U. S. Great Plains area, but varieties available then were too low in oil to be of interest to processors. The development of "Nebraska" varieties in the next decade by Carl Claassen, some with oil contents up to 36 per cent, improved the usefulness of safflower, but it did not succeed at first in the Great Plains states and Claassen shifted his efforts to California, which has one of the best climates in the world for safflower production. In partnership with Pacific Vegetable Oil Corporation, he pioneered the commercial development of safflower in California, one of the newest "alternative crops" available to farmers. Paul Knowles led a substantial research and plant breeding effort at the University. His program has contributed significantly to safflower production in California and worldwide since the end of the second world war by developing varieties with higher oil contents and other useful properties. He also identified safflower types with high levels of oleic fatty acid (similar to olive oil). Knowles' discovery led to the development of commercial safflower varieties with high oleic acid contents, different from the common high linoleic acid types. Now both types are available to growers. Currently, the majority of land planted with safflower in California is used for oleic types. If growers produce both oleic and linoleic types, they should not mix the types because the oil is marketed by type. Mixing the two oil types will make the harvest essentially worthless. A listing of the quality characteristics of the two types of safflower oil is given in Table 1 and a comparison with other vegetable oils in Table 2. Plant breeders working for private companies and at other universities also have developed important new safflower varieties with increasing oil content (figure 2). The characteristics of the press cake or meal, which is used as a livestock feed, are listed in Table 3. Safflower also can be grazed and is used as hay in some countries. |
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| 1Department of Agronomy and Range Science, University of California, Davis; University of California Cooperative Extension, Yolo County; ‡ deceased; Department of Agronomy and Range Science, University of California, Davis (retired). | |
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Modified: 13 Nov 2000 Comments to Sue DiTomaso | |