• Proceedings of the Plant Resources Society of Korea Conference
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• 2023.04a
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• pp.69-69
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• 2023

Safflower seeds, classified as a member of the Asteraceae family, a dicotyledonous plant, contain linoleic acid as a major component, known for its pharmacological effect of strengthening bones. Additionally, safflower seeds have been reported to have pharmacological effects on vascular diseases such as atherosclerosis. In this study, we investigated the anti-obesity effect of safflower seed extract by examining its impact on adipocyte differentiation using Oil Red O staining, triglyceride quantification, and GPDH activity measurement. The results showed that safflower seed extract significantly inhibited adipocyte differentiation. Furthermore, we confirmed that safflower seed extract improved body weight, liver weight, adipose tissue size, glucose, and triglyceride levels in a high-fat diet-induced mouse model. These findings suggest that safflower seed extract exhibits potent anti-obesity activity both in vitro and in vivo and has the potential to be developed as a material for future anti-obesity therapies.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.528-534
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• 2001

Much attention has been given to the role of safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) seed in preventing and treating osteroporosis recently. Although numerous studies were done on effects of safflower oil, no attention was given to the role of dietary fiber of safflower seeds. This study was aimed at investigating physiological significance of defatted safflower seed as a source of dietary fiber. Sprague Dawley female rats were assigned one of 5 groups: ovariectomized control (Ovx-control) group and ovariectomized rats 15% (Ovx-ss15) and 30% defatted safflower seed (Ovx-SS30), sham-operated (Sham) group and a normal group. Cholesterol was supplemented to all diets at 0.5% except the normal diet. Ovariectomized rats were pair-fed isocalorically to the Sham group. Ovariectomy caused heavier body weight, but feeding 30% safflower seed brought back to the level of Sham group. Activities of disaccharidases of jejunal mucosa were significantly lowered in Ovx-control group compared to those of Sham, and supplementation of safflower seed tended to increase the activities. Fecal weight of Ovx-SS15 and Ovx-SS30 were almost twice as those of Ovx-control Sham. Propionic acid and butyric acid concentrations per g of feces of Ovx-SS15 and daily excretion of these fatty acids were significantly increased as compared to those of Sham and Ovx-control. In concentration defatted safflower seed supplementation significantly increased fecal bulk and short chain fatty acid production in large intestine of rats.

• Applied Microscopy
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.307-314
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• 2001

Safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) is a thistle-like annual plant mainly grown in dry hot climates as an oilseed or birdseed. Traditionally, the oil has mainly been sold in the health food market because it is unsaturated having high linoleic and oleic acid levels. With increased health consciousness in recent years, the oil quality has become a more general health issue. This study was designed to understand whether safflower seed powder has positive effects on the fracture healing in rats. Simple transverse fracture of rat fibula was made with a rotating diamond disc saw. The histologic changes of rats were observed with a scanning electron microscope. The fractured fibulae showed a complete fusion at the fracture site in the 4th to 5th week after a simple transverse fracture. Administration of safflower seed powder facilitated the speed of histologic changes without affecting qualitative changes. These results suggest that safflower seed powder nay have substances that help the fracture healing process.

• YAKHAK HOEJI
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• v.44 no.1
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• pp.60-65
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• 2000

The yeast extract, coconut water, safflower seed oil, arachidonic acid, linolenic acid, jasmonic acid and methyl jasmonate were added to Gamborg's B$_{5}$ medium. The changes on productivity of baccatin III were estimated every 30 minutes and the results were compared using the selected high yielding cell culture system of Taxus cuspidata. In most cases, the peaks of baccatin III productivity occured at 90~120 min after addition of elicitors. Among the compound elicitors, safflower seed oil showed the highest productivity of baccatin III. Also arachidonic acid and linolenic acid increased the baccatin III production.

• Korean Journal of Medicinal Crop Science
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• v.20 no.6
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• pp.415-420
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• 2012

In order to evaluate the effect of seed weight on different aspect of safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) seed germination and growth characteristics. Quantity of sinapine leaked from seed was greater as the viability of seeds was dropped by the time elapsed of seed aging model and long storage condition in safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.). The cultivar of safflower was Jin-Sun and the seeds that are separated to three different weights of small, middle, and large were used in this experiment. Large seeds revealed the highest germination percent, coleoptiles fresh weight, coleoptiles dry weight, radicle fresh weight and 1000 seed weights than other seed weight. Seed weight had little effect on yield while seed number exerted a positive influence. Interestingly, yield per plant and its major components, number of capsules and capsule weights, revealed a negligible relationship with oil content.

• Food Science and Preservation
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.219-223
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• 2003

Response surface methodology was used for monitoring and optimizing the extraction conditions of campesterol, stigmasterol, ${\beta}$ -sitosterol, and total sterols from the safflower seed. The conditions of phytosterol extraction were optimized by using central composite design with the temperature(35∼75$^{\circ}C$, X$_1$), the time (1∼11hr, X$_2$), and the preheating temperature(60∼100$^{\circ}C$, X$_3$) as three variables. The extraction conditions for maximum campesterol content were 59.01$^{\circ}C$(X$_1$), 2.88hr(X$_2$), and 75.04$^{\circ}C$(X$_3$). But stigmasterol, ${\beta}$ -sitosterol and total sterols were not significantly different under designed extraction condition in this study. Besides, oil was extracted from safflower seed at various conditions and yields were 23.44% at 35$^{\circ}C$ and 20.05% at 80$^{\circ}C$, respectively. Total tocopherol content increased from 0.172% to 0.207% as the extraction temperature increased from 35$^{\circ}C$ to 80$^{\circ}C$. A structured lipids(SL) was synthesized enzymatically by extracted safflower oil and conjugated linoleic acid(CLA). After 24hr reaction, 31.79 mol% CLA was incorporated into the extracted safflower oil.

• Food Science and Preservation
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• v.16 no.5
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• pp.726-733
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• 2009

Six types of oil were extracted from pomegranate seed, mung bean, pepper seed, safflower seed, seeds of Cassia tora Linnaeus, and perilla seed. The extracted seed oils were analyzed for total and positional fatty acid composition, triacylglycerol (TAG) level, and tocopherol content. Crude fat levels measured by the Folch method were 21.64% in perilla seed, 13.85% in safflower seed, 9.60% in pepper seed, 8.85% in pomegranate seed, 2.25% in mung bean, and 2.00% in C. tora,respectively (all w/w). Linoleic acid (C18:2) was the most abundant fatty acid at the sn-2 position of triacylglycerols (TAGs), ranging from 15.99-88.3 wt%. The composition of TAGs was analyzed by reverse-phase HPLC, and TAGs of seed oils showed partition numbers of 36-48. The highest content (377.74 mg/100 g) of total tocopherol was found in pomegranate seed whereas the total tocopherol content of mung bean, C. tora, pepper seed, perilla seed, and safflower seed were 141.16, 107.23, 33.88, 30.05, and 29.80 mg/100 g, respectively.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.1 no.2
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• pp.69-77
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• 1999

Safflower is an important medicinal plant that has been used in China, Korea and Japan for thousands of years. The red and yellow pigments obtained from the petals of safflower can invigorate blood, release stagnation and promote menstruation. In addition, these pigments are used safely in processed foods and soft drinks as naturally harmless rotor additives. On the other hand, the seed of safflower contains 30-40% oil with higher level of mono- and poly-unsaturated fatfy acid profiles and elevated levels of $\alpha$-tocopherol. In this paper, we describe advances in the production of pigments and $\alpha$-tocopherol by cell culture in safflower.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.30 no.10
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• pp.1567-1573
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• 2020

Ultraviolet (UV) is one of the major factors harmful to skin health. Irradiation with ultraviolet accelerates the decline of skin function, causing the skin to have deep wrinkles, dryness, decreased procollagen production, and degradation of collagen. Novel materials are needed to prevent the aging of the skin by blocking the effects of UV. Safflower seed oil (Charthamus tinctorius L., SSO) contains significantly high levels of unsaturated fatty acids and phytochemicals. SSO has been traditionally used in China, Japan, and Korea to improve skin and hair. Our objective in this study was to determine the effect of SSO and its active compound acacetin on UVB-induced skin photoaging in HaCaT cells and human dermal fibroblasts (HDF). SSO inhibited UVB-induced matrix metalloproteinase-1 (MMP-1) at both protein and mRNA levels in HaCaT cells and HDF. MMP-1 is known to play important roles in collagen degradation and wrinkle formation. Acacetin, a type of flavonoid, is present in SSO. Similar to SSO, acacetin also inhibited UVB-induced MMP-1 protein and mRNA levels in HaCaT cells and HDF. MMP-1 mRNA is primarily regulated by the mitogen-activated kinase (MAPK) signaling pathway. Acacetin regulated the phosphorylation of JNK1/2 and c-jun, but did not inhibit the phosphorylation of ERK1/2, p38 and AKT. Taken together, these results indicate that SSO and its active compound acacetin can prevent UVB-induced MMP-1 expression, which leads to skin photoaging, and may therefore have therapeutic potential as an anti-wrinkle agent to improve skin health.

• Anatomy and Cell Biology
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• v.56 no.2
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• pp.219-227
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• 2023

Adult neurogenesis has been reported in the hypothalamus, subventricular zone and subgranular zone in the hippocamp. Recent studies indicated that new cells in the hypothalamus are affected by diet. We previously showed beneficial effects of safflower seed oil (SSO), a rich source of linoleic acid (LA; 74%), on proliferation and differentiation of neural stem cells (NSCs) in vitro. In this study, the effect of SSO on hypothalamic neurogenesis was investigated in vivo, in comparison to synthetic LA. Adult mice were treated with SSO (400 mg/kg) and pure synthetic LA (300 mg/kg), at similar concentrations of LA, for 8 weeks and then hypothalamic NSCs were cultured and subsequently used for Neurosphere-forming assay. In addition, serum levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BNDF) were measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Administration of SSO for 8 weeks in adult mice promoted the proliferation of NSCs isolated from SSO-treated mice. Immunofluorescence staining of the hypothalamus showed that the frequency of astrocytes (glial fibrillary acidic protein⁺ cells) are not affected by LA or SSO. However, the frequency of immature (doublecortin⁺ cells) and mature (neuronal nuclei⁺ cells) neurons significantly increased in LA- and SSO-treated mice, compared to vehicle. Furthermore, both LA and SSO caused a significant increase in the serum levels of BDNF. Importantly, SSO acted more potently than LA in all experiments. The presence of other fatty acids in SSO, such as oleic acid and palmitic acid, suggests that they could be responsible for SSO positive effect on hypothalamic proliferation and neurogenesis, compared to synthetic LA at similar concentrations.