Safflower, safflower oil, Carthamus tinctorius

Safflower is an annual herb, native of Mediterranean countries and  known to humans at least  for 4000 years.
Originally it was grown mainly for it's flowers, a source of yellow and red (carthamin) dyes, though Ancient Chinese were using it's oil for a variety of things, like candle making, etc.
Because safflower has a similar color with saffron, it was  often used  to make fake saffron,  thus one of the safflower's nicknames is "Bastard's saffron". Other nicks are "Mexican saffron", "dyer's saffron" and "False saffron".
Now safflower is mostly grown for it's oil, though  there is still a demand  for it's flowers in many regions.
The oil in safflower contains almost 75%  linoleic acid, which is  higher than soybean, corn, cottonseed, peanut or olive oils. This type of safflower is used primarily for edible oil products such as salad oils and soft margarines. Scientists  disagree on whether oils high in polyunsaturated acids, like linoleic acid, can decrease blood cholesterol and the related heart and circulatory problems. Still, it is considered a "high quality" edible oil and public concern about this topic made safflower an important crop for vegetable oil.
Varieties that are high in oleic acid may serve as a heat-stable, but expensive cooking oil used to fry potato chips and french fries. As an industrial oil, it is considered a drying or semi drying oil that is used in manufacturing paints and other surface coatings. The oil is light in color and will not yellow with aging, hence it is used in white and light-colored paints. This oil may also be used as a diesel fuel substitute, but as other vegetable oils, is currently too cost-prohibitive for this use.
The meal that remains after oil extraction is used as a protein supplement for livestock. The meal usually contains  24% protein and a lot of  fiber. Decorticated meal (most of hulls removed) has about 40% protein with a reduced fiber content. Foots are used to manufacture soap. The birdseed industry buys a small portion of the seed production. Sheep and cattle can graze on safflower and stubble fields after the  harvest.
Production
In 2009,  646 427 tonnes of safflower seeds were produced by 23 countries. Over the last 50 years, world production of safflower seeds grew by about 100%.  Highest ever  crop of safflowers was in 1979, when 1 110 535 tons were produced. Lowest crop since 1961 was in 1961, when 326 997 tons were produced.
Land usage decreased by 1% since 1961. In 2009, crop of safflower used  752 455 hectares of land , which is about 0,048% of all arable land in the world.
Biggest producer in the world is India with 189 000 tons as of 2009.
Biggest producer per capita is Kazakhstan  with  4.36 kg of safflower seeds produced as of 2009.
As much as 95 grams of safflower seeds were produced per potential consumer of 2009. That is almost 500 calories.
World safflower seed crop could supply as much as  4.6 million people with 2000 calories a day,  and there is enough of protein for 5.7 million people.
Best  average worldwide yields were 961.8 kg per hectare in 1998, worst, since 1961-- 431.8  kg/ha ( 1961). Individual record belongs to USA  2447.2 kg per hectare in 1971.

Almost 19 000 tonnes were used as seed in 2009.

Average price for safflower seed is $550-700 per ton as of today.
Production of safflower seed by country:

	item	2007		2008		2009
Argentina	Safflower seed	58000		33480		86991
Australia	Safflower seed	2040		2104		6242
Canada	Safflower seed	2592		3366		3259	Im
China	Safflower seed	32000		32500	F	34000	F
Ethiopia	Safflower seed	11176		8075		5552	*
Hungary	Safflower seed	83		237		59
India	Safflower seed	240000		225000		189000
Iran (Islamic Republic of)	Safflower seed	658		593		599	Im
Israel	Safflower seed	0	F	0	F	0	F
Kazakhstan	Safflower seed	43940		45740		67000	*
Kyrgyzstan	Safflower seed	12039		12830		14636
Mexico	Safflower seed	113334		96413		95000	F
Morocco	Safflower seed				M		M
Occupied Palestinian Territory	Safflower seed	5		3		3	F
Pakistan	Safflower seed	49		60		65
Portugal	Safflower seed		M		M		M
Russian Federation	Safflower seed	40		580		350
Spain	Safflower seed	24		30	F	35	F
Tajikistan	Safflower seed	1036		562		600	F
Turkey	Safflower seed	2280		7068		20076
United Republic of Tanzania	Safflower seed	8846	I	9921	Im	10071	Im
United States of America	Safflower seed	95547		140810		109756
Uzbekistan	Safflower seed	3500	F	3621	Im	3133	Im
World + (Total)	Safflower seed	627189	A	622993	A	646427	A

My usual sources are fao.org,usda.gov, cia.gov, alibaba.com. Thank you for your visit!   

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