Safflower
alazor carthamus tinctorius
Safflower
alazor carthamus tinctorius
The
Safflower
is
a
showy grass belonging to the
family
of composite tubulifloras. Rarely reaches more than half
a
meter in height, and its stem is
straight
and upright, the leaves are way between aovada and lanceolate. Take
a
few big heads, surrounded by leaves above. The flowers are an intense
yellow
, and eventually turn
orange
. The fruits have
a
prismatic form, with
a
narrow base and
a
length of less than 1 meter. One grows cultivated in certain areas of Catalonia, Murcia, Valencia and Andalucia, and can also be found asilvestrado everywhere.
It blooms in
summer
, during the entire season. For medicinal purposes interested in flowers and fruits. The flowers of the cones are harvested just before they wilt and are carried out to dry as soon as possible if there is no drying, the drying will be done in the shade. As for fruits, are collected when the plant is going to dry up.
There are abundant fruits in unsaturated fats. These fats are obtained by prensación fruit, yielding up to 23%
Safflower
oil. As for the flowers, the most characteristic of them are coloring matters:
a
red
(called
red
Safflower
) and
yellow
, the latter
has
been widely used as
a
falsification of
saffron
. In addition, the flowers also contain flavonoids and
a
bitter
principle called arctiosido, found throughout the plant.
Safflower
oil
has
been used
a
lot as
a
laxative or
purgative
, depending on the dose,
but
this oil
has
a
number of features that make it worth
a
hypercholesterolemic action. Indeed, because of their high prevalence in unsaturated fatty acids, is used to reduce the excess
cholesterol
in the blood. In general, the use of unsaturated fats is highly recommended for everyone, regardless of whether or not to be suffering some form of
hypercholesterolemia
, ie, which remain abnormally high levels of
cholesterol
in blood. These fats are found mostly in blue fish,
vegetable
oils, and so on. Other actions of this plant, lesser known, are due to some compounds present in the flowers, these exerting
a
antinematodos and antifungal. In India, this plant is used externally as an analgesic. In any case, the principal virtue of
Safflower
is to be
a
good laxative,
but
as always,
has
been used sporadically and always under medical supervision, as when it is used to lower
cholesterol
.
Previously, extracting the two colors mentioned before: the
yellow
was
wool,
but
the color varies with sunlight, which dispensed with its use.
Infusion:
As of flowers, adding
a
teaspoon of flowers to
a
cup of boiling water. You can take up to 3 cups
a
day.
Emulsion:
With the fruit, crushed and let them stand behind, you have
a
purgative
or laxative emulsion, depending on the amount taken.
Oil:
The oil is used in the
normal
diet, after receiving appropriate treatment.
Laxative.
Purgative
.
Cholesterol
.
Related Products