Safflower hull

TABLE 7. Identification and Distribution of Sugars in Safflower Hull and Kernel (81). ... 

The by-product of the extraction of safflower oil is a grayish tan to brown cake or meal that exhibits flakes or shreds of whitish safflower hulls. Table 10 presents typical analysis for safflower meal. Most meal produced in the United States is of a solvent-extracted type. The amino acid and mineral contents of meal are shown in Table 11. 

Others spent considerable time searching for alternative uses for safflower hulls, the best bet in that period was to export the 6% fraction to Japan, where safflower hulls were used as low cost filler in many types of compound feeds. Japan was also a regular consumer of 20% protein (sometimes purchased basis 20% protein-fat combined analysis), but in today s market, safflower meal from the United States is not competitive in the Japanese market. 

Safflower hulls find their best market when incorporated in safflower meal, and none has been produced separately for many years in the United States, because most mills produced only two fractions when decorticating, 20 and 42% portions. Today, the energy consumed in separating safflower meal fractions exceeds the premium that can be gained from the high protein fraction, so most mills confine themselves to offering as is meal of 25% protein. 

Oil extraction produces an undecorticated (hulled) safflower meal with approximately 200-220g/kg CP and 400g/kg CF. The undecorticated meal is also called whole pressed seed meal, whereas the decorticated meal is referred to as safflower meal. Decortication of the hulled meal yields a high protein (420-450g/kg CP), less fibrous (150-160g/kg CF) meal, which is more suitable for inclusion in poultry or pig diets (Darroch, 1990). 

Safflower seed (technically an achene) (61) consists of a tough fibrous hull that protects a kernel comprised of two cotyledons and an embryo. Applewhite (62) reported that hulls make up 18-59% of the seed weight (62), Weiss (63) characterized normal hulled seeds as 38 9%, and Li et al. (64) noted percentages of 25-87.5%. This diversity also shows up in seed weight per 1000 seeds (14-105 g), oil content (11.48 7.45%), and fatty acid distribution (linoleic acid, 11.13-85.6% oleic acid, 6.74—81.84%, stearic acid, 0.01. 88%, and palmitic acid, 2.1-29.03%) (57). 

Safflower seeds are normally cream to white, but since 1960, breeding has resulted in great variation in color, ranging from normal hull to thin hull (which tend to show part of the underlying colored layers) to types with gray, purple, or brown-striped hulls. Most of this research has been aimed at creating a thinner hull to increase oil content (Table 4). Although reduction of the hull fraction... 

It is hard to judge the exact size of the market for birdseed safflower, but as feeding of wild birds increases in the United States, most dealers believe it has exceeded 20,0001 annually. China generally enjoys the reputation of supplying the best birdseed quality, since much of Chinese seed is below 30% in oil content and normally has white hulls. Weather and transportation factors sometimes increase difficulties... 

Promising experiments have been done to produce protein flour or protein isolates from safflower meal. The USDA compared safflower protein isolate with isolate from soy and found the safflower product to be quite useful. The study also outlined the cost of investment and production for the process envisioned (128-130). Other researchers have written extensively on this subject (131-134). A factory would need considerably more than the total U.S. supply of safflower meal to produce an economically viable protein isolate. Unless a scientific breakthrough can materially reduce the hull portion of a safflower seed while retaining satisfactory yields, meal will continue to sell for a modest price and to be considered a second-rank product. NIOP Rules 8.1.1-8.1.3 established the factors guiding the trade in safflower meal. 

Determining the oil content of safflower seed in the laboratory by solvent extraction is also more difficult than for other oilseeds because of the vast difference in texture of the hull compared to the kernel within. The hull must be cracked or all of the oil will not be extracted. But in cracking the seed, the kernel tends to mash as well and small amounts of oil can be lost in the process, a small amount is important when the sample contains only 5g of seed. Since many people expressed dissatisfaction in safflower oil content analyses, PVO s control laboratory worked for a long time to develop a better method than the standard AOCS procedure (136). This method of analysis is now part of the NIOP rules for safflower (137). 

It is particularly important to remember that the sample used in analyzing safflower oil contents must be first cleaned of all dockage (including empty hulls), unlike the common method of measuring sunflower oil contents, which is... 

Safflower is a minor oilseed crop limited in production by environmental constraints and by the plant s spiny nature. Unless the seed is well dehulled, the oilcake resulting from oil extraction will have a high fiber content. Undecorticated oil cake has a protein content of 20-22% and an end use as manure. In contrast, removal of the hull improves the protein content to 40%, making it acceptable as cattle feed despite low lysine levels. Leftover hulls and husks are added to cattle feed or are used to manufacture cellulose, insulation, and abrasives (5, 49). 

Small oilseeds, such as flaxseed, perilla, rapeseed, and sesame, are often handled without decortication because of processing difficulties. Although several decortication installations were tried on safflower, they were not very successful (26). Sunflower is usually decorticated however, the final decision to do so depends on the meal market available to the oil mill and if economical uses for hulls can be found (27, 28). 

The plant (false saffron, dyers saffron) has been grown since antiquity as an oil seed crop and for its flowers from which the dye (carthamin and safflower yellow) is produced. The plant is a spiny erect herb resembling the thistle (30-100 cm high). There are two distinct varieties, one very spiny, the other moderate or spineless. The seeds resemble sunflower seed but are approximately half the size oil content is 36-43% when dehulled. The hull can form a large proportion of the seed (35-65%). The higher-oil-containing... 

In Brassica and safflower, increases in seed oil and protein percentages have been achieved by selecting lines with decreased hull content (Knowles, 1989 Downey and Robbelen, 1989). 

Safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) is also an important oil source. Safflower seed is covered with a tough fibrous hull that protects the kernel. Whole seed and kernel contain 37 5% and 53-63% oil, respectively. Regular safflower contains mainly linoleic (77%) and oleic acids (15%). Oleic safflower (77% oleic and 15% linoleic acid) was originally marketed as an ingredient for mayonnaise and a replacement for peanut oil used by the snack food indnstry (Goodman, 1964). Later, oleic safflower became an ingredient in infant... 

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