Chemical Composition and Physical Properties of High Oleic Safflower Oils (Carthamus tinctorius, Var. CW88-OL and CW99-OL)

Chemical composition and physical properties of CW88-OL and CW99-OL cultivars of high oleic safflower seeds and their hexane-extracted oils were determined. Dry-based seed composition of CW88-OL and CW99-OL was: moisture = 4.29 and 4.23 %, oil = 42.29 and 46.44 %, Crude protein = 20.94 and 16.41 %, neutral detergent fiber = 28.11 and 28.49 %, ash = 1.55 and 2.01 %, phosphorus content = 2033 and 3995 mg/kg, respectively. Major fatty acids in oils were ~78 % oleic (O), ~13 % linoleic (L), ~5 % palmitic (P) and ~2 % stearic (St) acids, for both cultivars. The main triacylglycerols were OOO (~50 %), OOL (~20 %), SOL + OPO (~10 %), and LLP (~5 %). The oil composition of CW88-OL and CW99-OL in main minor components was: α-tocopherol = 582 and 551 mg/kg, total sterols = 3996 and 3362 mg/kg, phospholipids = 22 and 21 mg/kg and wax content = 70 and 74 mg/kg. For both cultivars, density and viscosity of the oils between 25 and 55 °C varied from 903.4 to 912.6 kg/m 3 and 63 to 23 mPa.s showing linear and exponential behaviors, respectively. The refractive index was 1.4694. The CIELab color parameters were: 89.69 and 89.53 ( L *), −3.72 and −3.07 ( a *), and 47.28 and 47.78 ( b *) (CW88-OL and CW99-OL, respectively). Thus, the high oil content of the seeds and nutritional quality of the oil accompanied by low levels of waxes and phospholipids makes the cultivars studied promising for producers and consumers.