Safflower

A beautiful flower used by the Ancient Egyptians for dying and for medicinal uses.Its botanical name is Carthamus tinctorius. Its common name is safflower, false saffron, American saffron, dyers' saffron. Its arabic name is Usfor or Asfor( meaning yellow, or the color yellow).It is a native of the mediterranean.The main active ingredient in safflower medicines is safflower yellow, which is water-soluble. The orange-red flowers of safflower sometimes serve as a substitute for saffron, since they give a (rather pale) colour to the food. Their value as spice is nearly nil, but their staining capability justifies usage in the kitchen.

 

Uses

Medicinal uses
The flowers are considered as diaphoretic, emmenagogue, laxative, sedative, stimulant, in large doses laxative. The flowers are sometimes used in children's and infants' complaints, such as measles, fevers, and eruptive skin problems.
Taken hot, safflower tea produces strong perspiration and has thus been used for colds and related ailments. It has also been used at times for its soothing effect in cases of hysteria. Safflower blossoms are used in the tea form to treat hysteria, fevers, phlegm, and panic attacks. It is a pretty strong cathartic, and also clears the lungs and helps the phthisis.

Food uses
Safflower supplies oil, meal, birdseed, and foots (residue from oil processing) for the food and industrial products markets.

Safflower oil, which is rich in linoleic acid (an essential fatty acid), is commonly used in cooking to aid in lowering cholesterol. The oil also contains a high concentrate of polyunsaturates. Polyunsaturates provide the raw material for prostaglandins, the hormone-like substances that function in cell membranes and molecular regulation. Infusions of Safflower were used as a laxative.

 

 Price / lb : $ 10.0