Карфамин: растение, масло и натуральный краситель.

Species of plant

Safflower (Carthamus tinctorius) is a highly branched, herbaceous, thistle like annual plant in the family Asteraceae. It is commercially cultivated for vegetable oil extracted from the seeds and was used by the early Spanish colonies along the Rio Grande as a substitute for saffron. Plants are tall with globular flower heads having yellow, orange, or red flowers. Each branch will usually have from one to five flower heads containing 15 to 20 seeds per head. Safflower is native to arid environments having seasonal rain. It grows a deep taproot which enables it to thrive in such environments.

Traditionally, the crop was grown for its seeds, and used for coloring and flavoring foods, in medicines, and making red (carthamin) and yellow dyes, especially before cheaper aniline dyes became available.

Safflower flowers are occasionally used in cooking as a cheaper substitute for saffron, sometimes referred to as "bastard saffron". The dried safflower petals are also used as a herbal tea variety.

Safflower petals contain one red and two yellow dyes. In coloring textiles, dried safflower flowers are used as a natural dye source for the orange red pigment carthamin. Carthamin is also known, in the dye industry, as Carthamus Red or Natural Red 26. Yellow dye from safflower is known as Carthamus yellow or Natural Yellow 5. One of the yellow pigments is fugitive and will wash away in cold water. The dye is suitable for cotton, which takes up the red dye, and silk, which takes up the yellow and red color yielding orange. No mordant is required. In Japan, dyers have long utilised a technique of producing a bright red to orange red dye (known as carthamin) from the dried florets of safflower (Carthamus tinctorius). Darker shades are achieved by repeating the dyeing process several times, having the fabric dry, and redyed. Due to the expensive nature of the dye, safflower dye was sometimes diluted with other dyestuffs, such as turmeric and sappan.

In Australia in 2005, CSIRO and Grains Research and Development Corporation launched the Crop Biofactories initiative to produce 93% oleic oil for use as a biodegradable oil for lubricants, hydraulic fluids, and transformer oils, and as a feedstock for biopolymers and surfactants.