Ingredient: Safflower flowers (bastard saffron)
Category: Herbs, Spices & Seasoning
Season: All
Safflower (Carthamus tinctorius) is a highly branched, herbaceous, thistle-like annual, usually with many long sharp spines on the leaves. Plants are 30 to 150 cm tall with globular flower heads (capitula) and commonly, brilliant yellow, orange or red flowers which bloom in July.
There are two types of safflower that produce different kinds of oil: one high in monounsaturated fatty acid (oleic acid) and the other high in polyunsaturated fatty acid (linoleic acid)
Produced commercially in more than sixty countries worldwide. India, United States, and Mexico are the leading producers, with Ethiopia, Kazakhstan, China, Argentina and Australia accounting for most of the remainder.
Traditionally, the crop was grown for its seeds, for the last fifty years or so, the plant has been cultivated mainly for the vegetable oil extracted from its seeds.
In April 2007 it was reported that genetically modified safflower has been bred to create insulin
Safflower flowers are occasionally used in cooking as a cheaper substitute for saffron, and are thus sometimes referred to as "bastard saffron."
Safflower seed is also used quite commonly as an alternative to sunflower seed in bird feeders, as squirrels do not like the taste of it.
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