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Safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.)

Synonyms

pharmaceuticalFlores Carthami
Arabicعصفر
عُصْفُر
Asfour, Asfur, Usfur
Aramaicܙܪܕܩܐ, ܚܪܝܥ, ܡܘܪܝܩ, ܩܘܪܛܡ
Zardaqa, Hri, Muriq, Qurtam
Assameseকুসুম ফুল
Kusumphul
AzeriŞafran; more rarely also Zəfəran
Шафран, Зәфәран
BelarusianСафлор
Saflor
Bengaliকুসুম ফুল
Kusum-phul
BretonKartam
BulgarianСафлор
Saflor
Chinese
(Cantonese)
大紅花 [daaih hùhng fāa], 紅蘭花 [hùhng làahn fāa]
Daaih huhng faa, Huhng laahn faa
Chinese
(Mandarin)
大紅花 [dà hóng huā], 紅蘭花 [hóng lán huā]
Da hong hua, Hong lan hua
CatalanFlors de càrtam
Copticⲕⲣⲁⲙ, ⲙⲉⲧⲁⲓⲱ, ϭⲟⲩϫ, ϭⲟⲩϭ, ϣⲟⲩϫ
Kram (?), Metaio, Qouj, Qouq, Shouj
CroatianŠafranika, Bojadisarski bodalj
CzechSvětlice barvířská, Azafrán
DanishFarvetidsel, Safflor
DutchSaffloer
EnglishSafflower, Safflor, Bastard saffron
EsperantoTinktura kartamo
EstonianVärvisafloor, Värvisafloori õied
Farsiگل رنگ
Gul rang
FinnishVärisaflori, Saflori
FrenchCarthame, Safran bâtard
Georgianალისარჩული, შაფრანი; ყვითელი ყვავილი (?), ზაფრანა (?)
Alisarchuli, Shaprani; Q’vit’eli-q’vavili (?), Qviteli-qvavili, Kviteli-kvavili (?), Zaprana (?)
GermanSaflor, Färbersaflor, Färberdistel
GreekΚνίκος
Knikos
Greek (Old)Κνῆκος, Κνίκιον, Κνίκος, Ἀνθοκνῆκον
Knekos, Knikion, Knikos, Anthoknekon
Gujaratiકુસુમ્બો
Kusumbo
Hebrewקרטם, קורטם
קֻרְטָם, קוּרְטָם
Kurtam, Qurtam
Hindiकुसुम
Kusum
HungarianPórsáfrány, Sáfrányos szeklice, Szeklice, Szaflór, Olajözön, Magyar pirosító
IcelandicLitunarkollur
IrishChróch bréige
ItalianCartamo, Falso zafferano
Japanese紅花
べにばな
ベニバナ
Benibana
Kannadaಕುಸುಂಬೆ
Kusumbe
Korean홍화, 홍화씨, 싸플라워
Honghwa, Honggwassi, Sapullaweo
KazakhМақсары
Maqsarı
Laoດອກຄຳຝອຍ, ຄຳຝອຍ
Dok kham-foi, Kham nhong
LatinCnecos
LithuanianDažinis dygminas
MacedonianШафраника
Šafranika
Malayalamകുസുംഭം, ചെണ്ടൂരകം
Kusumbham, Shinduram, Chenturaku
Manipuri (Meitei-Lon)কুসুমলৈ
ꯀꯨꯁꯨꯝꯂꯩ
Kusumlei
Marathiकरडई
Kardai
Nepaliकुसुम
Kusum
Newari
(Nepalbhasa)
कुसुम फुल
Kusum phul
NorwegianSaflor
OriyaKusuma
PahlaviZardak
PolishKrokosz barwierski
PortugueseCártamo, Açafroa, Açafrão-bastardo, Falso-açafrão
Punjabiਕੁਸਮ
Kusam
RomanianȘofrănașŞofrănaş, ȘofrănelŞofrănel, Șofran sălbaticŞofran sălbatic, Uruian†, Pintenoagă†
RussianСафлор
Saflor
SanskritKusumbha
SerbianБодаљ, Дивљи шафран, Шафраника, Шафрањика
Bodalj, Divlji šafran, Šafranika, Šafranjika
SlovakPožlt farbiarska, Azafrán
SlovenianŽafranika, Barvilni žafran, Barvilni rumenik
SpanishCártamo, Alazor
SwedishSafflor, Färgtistel
Tamilகுசும்பா
Kusumba
Teluguకుసుంబా పుష్పము
Agnisikha, Kusumba pushpamu
Thaiคำฝอย, ดอกคำฝอย, คำยอง
Khamfoi, Dok khamfoi, Dok kham, Kham yong
Tibetanགུར་གུམ་, ཀུ་སུ་མ་
Gur-gum, Kusuma
TurkishAspir çiçeği, Aspur, Yalancı safran, Papağanyemi, Yerli safran, Safran yalancı, Asfur, Hasbir, Kırsafranı, Kartam†, Kuş yemi†, Kurtum† Esfur†
Urduکسنب, زعفران کاذب, گل رنگ
Kusumba, Zafran kadhab, Gul rang
VietnameseCây rum, Hồng hoa
Cay rum, Hong hoa
Yiddishזײפֿבלום, װילדער זאַפֿרען
Zeyfblum, Vilder Zafren
Carthamus tinctorius: Bastard (false) saffron flowers
Safflower

www.inaro.de

Carthamus tinctorius: Dried safflower
Safflower (dried flowers)
Used plant part

Flowers.

Plant family 

Asteraceae (sunflower family, also known as aster family), subfamily Asteroidae.

Sensory quality

Very weak, herbaceous.

Main constituents

Safflower flowers contain carthamin, a dye of flavonoid type, but no essential oil.

Carthamus tinctorius: Safflower head
Safflower head
Carthamus tinctorius: Safflower plant
Safflower plant, flowering

pharm1.pharmazie.uni-greifswald.de

The plant is widely cultivated for edible oil, which is extracted from the seeds. It contains tri­glycerides of the doubly un­saturated linoleic acid (70%) and the triply un­saturated linolenic acid (10%); the latter is, together with the compara­tively high content of vitamin E (310 ppm), responsible for the good reputation of saf­flower oil among nu­tri­tion sci­en­tists. Io­dine in­dex is ra­ther high, rang­ing from 140 to 150. See also se­same for a gen­eral dis­cus­sion of veg­etable oils.

Origin

Medi­terranean.

Etymology

The botanical genus name Carthamus derives from the Arabic verb qurtum [قرطم] dye, in reference to the usage of safflower flowers for textile dyeing. The word also entered some Romance tongues, e. g., Italian cartamo or Catalan càrtam, probably via Spanish cártamo; Turkish kartam, on the other hand, is likely to be a direct loan from Arabic.

The modern Arabic name of safflower, al-usfur [العصفر], comes from an adjective asfar [اصفر] yellow. The same root ṢPR become yellow also lies behind the name saffron. That name has been trans­ferred into Ottoman Turkish asfur or hasbir, and entered Spanish as alazor according to the medieval Anda­lusian pro­nunciation al-asfur (see also caper on Arabic loans in Iberic tongues).

Carthamus tinctorius: Flower head close-up
Safflower
Carthamus tinctorius: Safflower flower
Safflower: Close-up to flower

www.inaro.de

Quite amazingly, Arabic usfur is also the source of the name safflower and its cognates in various European languages, e. g., German Saflor, Finnish saflori and Bulgarian and Russian saflor [сафлор]. These names were derived from usfur or asfur via Old Italian asfiore (or saffiore) and Old French saffleur. By folk etymology, the name was transformed towards saffron and flower (Italian fiore, French fleur).

The botanical species name tinctorius is an adjective corresponding to the noun tinctor dyer, cf. the English verb tint. Several European names of safflower contain elements referring to dye or colour, e. g., Swedish färgtistel, Estonian värvisafloor, German Färberdistel and Romanian pintenogă colorantă.

Färber dyer in the German name Färbersaflor is the nomen agentis to the noun Farbe (cognate to Dutch verf) colour; dye; these words are difficult to explain etymologi­cally. A Proto-Indo–European root PERḰ coloured, speckled is often used to denote colourful animals: (Greek perkos [πέρκος] sparrow-hawk, prox [πρόξ] deer, German Forelle trout and perhaps even English perch). It is unclear whether pork (Proto-Indo–European PORḰO young pig) belongs to the same group, as it is more often set into relation with another but homophonous root PERḰ dig (cf. English furrow).

Arguments against deriving Farbe from that source, i. e. PERḰ, come from Gothic farw shape, which falls in line with Old Irish krunth and Sanskrit krip [कृप्] shape and Latin corpus body; shape (Proto-Indo–European root is KʷREPO). The meaning colour might thus be a more recent semantic shift from shape, restricted to Germanic tongues. But the Gothic word might also be interpreted as a loan from Arabic farwa [فرو] (colourful) fur; clothing.

Carthamus tinctorius: Flower head of safflower
Flower head of safflower

Many European languages name safflower as false saffron or the like, e. g., Portuguese falso-açafrão, Italian falso zafferano or French safran bâtard bastard saffron. This habit is very old: Already in Classical Greek, there is a name krokos ho akanthodes [κρόκος ὁ ἀκανθώδης] spiny saffron.

Occasionally, the names for safflower and saffron are variants of each other, or the same word loaned by different routes: Croatian šafranika/šafran (similar in other Yugoslavian tongues), Portuguese açafroa/açafrão, Romanian șofrănașşofrănaş/șofranşofran and Slowak azafrán/šafrán. A rather tricky case is Azeri: Both spices may be named zəfəran (from the Persian name of saffron), yet for safflower, also the Russian word for saffron, şafran, may be employed.

The Yiddish name zeyfblum [זײפֿבלום] means soap-flower (zeyf [זײף] soap and blum [בלום] flower). It is hard to explain. It could be related to the oil extracted from the seeds, which can be converted into soap; but the same is true of all other oilseed plants, too.

The Greek name for safflower, knikos [κνίκος], relates to Old Greek knekos [κνῆκος] or knikion [κνίκιον], which also meant safflower; the oldest recorded form of that Greek name is knakos [𐀏𐀙𐀒] found on Mycenaean clay tablets, which, however, signified saffron. That word is of Indo–European origin and related to Sanskrit kanchani [कांचनी] golden, made from gold (also used as a plant name for turmeric), Old Prussian cuncan brown and English honey (Old English hunig); the underlying root can be reconstructed as K(E)NƏKO (golden) yellow. In modern botanical terminology, the genus name Cnicus denotes the blessed thistle (Cnicus benedictus), a plant with yellow to orange flowers that is losely related to safflower.

Selected Links

Chinese Herb Database: Safflower Saflower (purdue.edu)



Carthamus tinctorius: Safflor flower heads
Safflower flower heads
The orange-red flowers of safflower sometimes serve as a substitute for saffron, since they give a (rather pale) colour to the food. They are frequently sold as saffron to tourists in Hungary or Northern Africa (and probably many other parts of the world). Their value as spice is nearly nil, but their staining capability justifies usage in the kitchen.

Although dried safflower flowers might appear occasionally in Mediterranean herb mixes, and have some use as a poor saffron imitate in Middle Eastern cooking, they are rarely used as a spice in their own right. Yet they are quite common in the cuisine of the Caucasus state Azərbaycan (Azerbaijan), where they help to improve the colour of broths, soups and stews, without being expected to contribute any flavour. However, many cooks are unaware between the difference between safflower and saffron, and consider the former a cheaper grade of the latter (an easy error given that both share partially the same name, see above).

A rather typical example for an Azərbaijani recipe employing safflower is piti [пити], particularly in the Northern variant common around beautiful Şəki town (Şəki pitisi [Шәки питиси]). This is a kind of nourishing soup prepared in single serving-sized portions: It is made from mutton meat and mutton tail fat together with chickpeas, which are all cooked with much water inside of a small clay pot; often, the recipe is augmented with fresh or dried fruits, nuts or chestnuts. Safflower is added towards the end of the preparation time and lends a yellowish hue to liquid.

Yellow flowers are also used in Georgian cuisine, but these usually stem from marigold (Tagetes erecta, see also Mexican tarragon), a common ornamental elsewhere; they appear often in the spice mix khmeli-suneli (see blue fenugreek). The spice is usually sold dry and ground and is often simply referred to as yellow flower (q’vit’eli q’vavili [ყვითელი ყვავილი]) or Imeretian saffron (imeruli zaprana [იმერული ზაფრანა]). Marigold flowers have an delicate mild, sweet scent that somehow reminds to honey (but disappears on cooking), and substitution by safflower flowers is possible, though the latter have even less flavour.

See annatto for more information on spices used as food colouring.



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