Comparison of Yield Components and Oil content of Selected Safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) Accessions in Tunisia

 Hamadi Ben Salah, Hamrouni Ibtissem, and Marzouk Brahim

Abstract

Safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) is an oleaginous plant, cultivated by small growers and managed by family units.  The petals, colored orange, are used mainly as the condiment  (false saffron) in food preparation.   This plant is well adapted to harsh conditions and has a potential to be cultivated under arid conditions.  Interest in its oil, especially the linoleic acid content (C18 :2) which is an essential fatty acid, took place when  the amount of edible oil used in food preparation  started to increase sharply.  The objective of this study was to compare yield components and oil content of four safflower accessions in Tunisia.

Screening of safflower accessions showed its good yield under Tunisian conditions.  There was a strong positive association between the number of primary branches and yield.  There was a significant positive correlation between seed yield and the number of seeds per capitulum. The total grain yield among the four accessions did not show a significant difference, however there were differences in thousand seed weights.   Differences were also observed on the total oil content.