Oil and meal characteristics of core and non-core safflower accessions from the USDA collection

Germplasm evaluation of ex situ collections is needed to document collection characteristics, enhance utilization, and to determine collection needs. The objectives of this study were to (1) provide oil and meal evaluation information for a major portion of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) collection, (2) compare ranges, variances and means between 203 core and 797 non-core accessions, and (3) determine if region of origin could be differentiated based on accession oil and meal characteristics. Means of the core and non-core accessions differed for % oil, palmitic acid, stearic acid, α-tocopherols, and phenolic glucosides (both bitter and cathartic) (P