Safflower oil is a vegetable oil derived from the seeds of the safflower plant, a member of the sunflower household1.
The flower thrives in arid climates2, comparable to these present in South Asia, China, India, Iran, and Egypt, and has lengthy been used3 for medicinal functions, together with the remedy of menstrual ache and dysfunction, postpartum stomach ache, and joint ache. Safflower oil specifically has been used2 in some areas of Asia and Africa to ease fevers, in addition to in China, Japan, and Korea to enhance4 pores and skin and hair well being.
Exterior of medicinal functions, safflower oil can also be used as a cooking oil, due to its excessive smoke level of 450 levels Fahrenheit, says Michelle Shapiro, R.D., a purposeful registered dietitian.
“Safflower oil, particularly high-oleic safflower oil, has a better smoke level than different generally used vegetable oils and is used for frying, sauteing, and different strategies that will require excessive warmth,” she notes. “It may be heated to excessive temperatures with out breaking down and releasing dangerous compounds.”
Since safflower oil can also be practically flavorless, it is generally utilized in processed meals, together with baked items, chips, popcorn, margarine, salad dressings, mayonnaise, and snack bars, she says.
To extract safflower oil from the plant’s seeds, processors might use chemical solvents (comparable to hexane) or supercritical carbon dioxide5 (aka high-pressure CO2), says Shapiro.
Mechanical extraction strategies are additionally used: Within the cold-pressing course of, safflower seeds are crushed and pressed, then the oil is extracted at a low temperature to take care of its dietary worth, she notes. The expeller-pressing course of is analogous, however the oil is extracted at a better temperature, she says.
There may be additionally some safflower oil that’s extracted utilizing each chemical and mechanical processes.
After extraction, safflower oil is usually refined to take away free fatty acids that may influence style, waxes, and different pure compounds; bleached to cut back coloured pigments; and deodorized to totally remove these free fatty acids and odors, analysis reveals6. “That is performed to create a constant, shelf-stable, neutral-flavor product,” says Shapiro.
