One hundred seventy two accessions of safflower, collected in four countries were investigated for their morphological and biochemical characters in 2014. The accessions were categorized into two groups; South-Central (S-C) Asia and South-West (S-W) Asia, and each group was represented the accessions of two countries. Variation in morphological and biochemical characters was observed between two groups of accessions. The average value of seed weight and range of variability were higher in S-C Asia accessions while S-W accessions exhibited the variation in plant height, leaf length and days to flowering. The average value of oleic and total oil content were higher in S-C Asia accessions, and the values were 19.8%, and 231.4 mg.g-1, respectively, while the range of variability for total oil content was higher in S-W accessions. Plant height exhibited a significant positive correlation with days to flowering (r = 0.625**). Palmitic acid had positively correlated with stearic acid (r = 0.282**) and linoleic acid (r = 0.444**). Oleic and linoleic acid showed a strong negative correlation (r = -0.977**). The first three principal components explained 57% of the total variation. Morphological and biochemical variation exist in different groups of accessions could be useful to breeder for developing new safflower cultivars with high oil quantity and quality.

사우디아라비아 북부지역에서 수집된 홍화 총 100자원에 대 한 총폴리페놀 함량 및 항산화 활성을 평가하여 항산화활성이 높은 홍화자원을 선발하고자 연구를 수행하였으며 그 결과는 다음과 같다. 1. 총 100자원의 홍화유전자원에 대한 총폴리페놀 함량은 14.2 ± 0.41 μg GAE mg−1dw에서 81.6 ± 1.56μg GAEmg−1dw 까지 분포하였다. DPPH 라디컬 소거능은 1.6 ± 0.07 μg ASC mg−1 dw에서 14.1 ± 0.23 μg ASCmg−1 dw까지 활성을 나 타냈다. ABTS 활성은 34.5 ± 0.70 μg Trolox mg−1 dw에서 156.5 ± 3.06 μg Trolox mg−1 dw까지 평가되었다. 항산화활성 을 측정한 DPPH와 ABTS 활성간에는 상당한 유의성(r = 0.954**)을 보였다. 2. 홍화자원 100자원의 총폴리페놀 함량 및 항산화활성 결 과값에 대한 상호관계를 분석하여 활성이 높은 그룹(Group1)을 얻었다. Group1에 포함된 8개의 홍화자원은 나머지 그룹에 속한 자원들에 비해 항산화활성이 높았으며, 이중 K185841, K185879, K185863은 Group1내의 다른 자원들보다도 항산화 활성이 상당히 높아 홍화육종이나 기능성물질연구에 좋은 소 재가 될 것으로 사료된다.

Previous studies have shown that methanol extract and its butanol fraction of Carthamus tinctorius L. Semen have the hepatoprotective effect on the CCl₄ induced hepatotoxicity. The hepatoprotective effect of the subfractions of butanol fraction has been evaluated by analyzing oxygen free radical scavenging enzyme activities and histopathological examinations. In BS-5 subfraction treated group, the activity of superoxide dismutase has been significantly increased as compared with that of CCl₄ treated rats. Antioxidant activity has been evaluated by the examination of the scavenging activity against 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl radical. BS-5 subfraction has shown strong antioxidant activities. The histopathological examination showed that the treatment of BS-5 subfraction has relieved the ballooning degeneration of hepatocytes which had been generated by CCl₄. It appears that the protective effect of BS-5 subfraction would be mediated of the attenuation of lipid peroxidation by acting as a free radical scavenger, which were based on the increase of superoxide dismutase activity.

Previous studies have shown that methanol extract and its butanol fraction of Carthamus tinctorius L. Semen have the hepatoprotective effect on the CCl₄-induced hepatotoxicity. The hepatoprotective effect of subfractions has been evaluated by analyzing blood and hepatocyte biochemical analyses and biotransformation enzyme analyses. Treatment of BS-5 subfraction has significantly decreased the activities of alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase. In addition, the levels of cholesterol and triglyceride in liver have been decreased as compared with that of CCl₄ treated rats. The hepatoprotective effect of BS-5 subfraction on the CCl₄-induced hepatotocicity would be mediated of the attenuation of the level of cytochrome P450 and the enhancement of the activity of glutathion S-transferase.

본 연구는 이란 등 5개국에서 수집한 홍화자원을 대상으로 하여 천연항산화제로써 홍화종자의 항산화 활성을 평가하고, 세로토닌 유도체인N-(p-Coumaroyl) serotonin과N-feruloylserotonin의 함량을 측정하여 항산화 활성과의 상관관계를 조사하였다. 총폴리페놀함량은 28.25 ~ 90.53 ㎍ GAE/㎎ DE의 범위를 나타내었고, 색소화합물인 DPPH 라디칼과ABTS+을 이용한 유리라디칼소거능을 측정하는 DPPH assay와 ABTS assay 의 값은 18.76 ~ 93.98 및 48.91 ~ 163.73 ㎍ ASCE/㎎ DE의 범위를 나타내었다. 시료의 환원능을 측정하는 방법인 FRAP assay 과 RP assay는 3.80 ~ 132.29 및 26.32 ~ 80.08 ㎍ ASCE/㎎ DE의 범위로 나타내었다. UHPLC를 이용하여 CS와 FS를 분석한 결과, CS 함량은 2.56 ~ 64.99 ㎎/g DE이고, FS 함량값은 1.92 ~ 65.36 ㎎/g DE이었다. 5개국 중 이란 원산종은 다른 나라에 비해 세로토닌 유도체 함량과 항산화 활성의 평균값이 높게 측정되었다. 항산화 활성과 세로토닌 유도체 함량 간의 상관관계 분석 결과, CS는 TPC와 ABTS, DPPH와 높은 상관성을 보였고(r = 0.673, 0.727, 0.820), FS는 DPPH와 높은 상관성을 보였다(r = 0.740). RACI를 통하여 선발된 IT321214과 IT321215는 항산화 활성이 높은 자원으로 천연항 산화제 소재 탐색 및 개발에 기초자료로 활용할 수 있을 것으로 생각된다.

Background: To obtain useful safflower resources for breeding and research of functional materials, the present study was conducted to determine fatty acid compositions and antioxidant activities of 281 safflower accessions collected from East Asia including South Korea. Methods and Results: Lipid contents and fatty acids compositions were evaluated using soxhlet extraction and gas chromatography, respectively. A antioxidant activities were analyzed using a spectrophotometer. The evaluation range of safflower accessions showed very wide variation. In terms of lipid contents, the China accessions were higher than the collection from other regions, whereas antioxidant activities did not differ among regions. The result of the principal component analysis showed that the first and second principal component cumulatively explained 90.6% of the total variation. In clustering the safflower accessions, the tree showed four major clades. Group II (16 accessions) was high in lipid content, oleic acid and linoleic acid, whereas group III (50 accessions) exhibited higher antioxidant activities than other groups. Conclusions: It was recommended that the China collections be utilized as a useful resource for research on functional oil materials. These results provided valuable information for safflower breeders and researchers of functional food.

Dual-color fluorescence in situ hybridization karyotype analysis was created using repetitive sequences including two types of rDNA repeats (45S and 5S rDNAs) and Arabidopsis-type telomere sequence repeats. The somatic metaphase cells of Carthamus tinctorius were observed as diploids (2n=2x=24). A symmetrical or slightly asymmetrical karyotype with seven pairs of metacentric and five pairs of submetacentric chromosomes was observed. The lengths of the somatic metaphase chromosomes ranged from 4.18 to 6.53 ㎛, with a total length of 60.71 ㎛. One locus of 45S rDNA was located on the pericentromeric regions of three pairs of chromosomes and the other pair was situated on the terminal regions of the short arms of a single pair of chromosomes. One locus of 5S rDNA was detected on the interstitial regions of the short arms of two pairs of chromosomes. Arabidopsis-type telomeric repeats were detected on the terminal regions of all pairs of chromosomes. Co-localization of loci between telomeric repeats and 45S rDNA was observed in a single pair of chromosomes. The results provide additional information for the existing physical mapping project of C. tinctorius and will also serve as a benchmark to a more intricate cytogenetic investigation of C. tinctorius and its related species.

The seed of safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L) has been reported to suppress human cancer cell proliferation. However, the mechanisms by which safflower seed inhibits cancer cell proliferation have remained nuclear. In this study, the inhibitory effect of the safflower seed (SS) on the proliferation of human colorectal cancer cells and the potential mechanism of action were examined. SS inhibited markedly the proliferation of human colorectal cancer cells (HCT116, SW480, LoVo and HT-29). In addition, SS suppressed the proliferation of human breast cancer cells (MDA-MB-231 and MCF-7). SS treatment decreased cyclin D1 protein level in human colorectal cancer cells and breast cancer cells. But, SS-mediated downregulated mRNA level of cyclin D1 was not observed. Inhibition of proteasomal degradation by MG132 attenuated cyclin D1 downregulation by SS and the half-life of cyclin D1 was decreased in SS-treated cells. In addition, SS increased cyclin D1 phosphorylation at threonine-286 and a point mutation of threonine-286 to alanine attenuated SS-mediated cyclin D1 degradation. Inhibition of ERK1/2 by PD98059 suppressed cyclin D1 phosphorylation and downregulation of cyclin D1 by SS. In conclusion, SS has anti-proliferative activity by inducing cyclin D1 proteasomal degradation through ERK1/2-dependent threonine-286 phosphorylation of cyclin D1. These findings suggest that possibly its extract could be used for treating colorectal cancer.

Background : Oxidative stress-related iflammatory mechanisms may play an important role in the pathogenesis of cisplatin-induced nephrotoxicity. Safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) seed is a crude drug rich in serotonin derivatives to exhibit several biological activities, including antioxidant, anti-inflammation and anti-cancer effects. The purpose of this study was to determine the renoprotective effects of Safflower seed, using cisplatin-induced nephrotoxicity mice. Methods and Results : Safflower seed was orally administered at a dose of 100 and 200 mg/kg body weight for 5 days before the intraperitoneal injection of cisplatin 20 mg/kg body weight, and the effects were compared with those of vehicle-treated cisplatin administered to control and normal mice. In the serum and kidney, renal function parameters reactive oxygen species and expression of protein related to oxidative stress, DNA damage, inflammation and apoptosis were examined. Safflower seed treatment attenuated serum BUN, createinine and renal oxidative stress through reduction of reactive oxygen species and increase in the protein expression level of catalase. Safflower seed reduced renal protein expression of p-p38 and p-JNK (mitogen-activated protein kinase pathway), pro-apoptotic factors (such as Bax and caspase 3) and nuclear factor-kappa B-targeting pro-inflammatory cyclooxygenase-2 and inducible nitric oxide synthase. In addition, Safflower seed treatment led to significantly attenuated histological damage in the kidney. Conclusion : These renoprotective effects of Safflower seed were achieved through attenuation of oxidative stress and its sensitive protein expression associated with inflammation and apoptosis in cisplatin-induced nephrotoxicity mice.

In traditional Korean and Chinese medicine, safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) for the treatment of centralnervous system-related symptoms such as tremor, seizure, stroke and epilepsy. We investigated the effects of safflower couldinfluence cerebral ischemia-induced neuronal and cognitive impairments. Administration of safflower for 1 day(200㎎/㎏ body weight, p.o.) increased the survival of hippocampal CA1 pyramidal neurons after transient global brainischemia. And neurological functions measured as short term memory. Post-treatment with safflower for 2 times decreasedthe induction/reduction - induced production of neuronal cell loss from global cerebral ischemia. Safflower markedlydecreased neuronal cell death and also caused a decrease in the content of thiobarbituric acid-reacting substances(TBARS) (55.2±9.4µmol mg-¹) and significant improvement of activities of glutathione (GSH) (27.2±5.0µmol mg-¹) inhippocampus. We conclude that treatment with safflower attenuated learning and memory deficits, and neuronal cell lossinduced by global cerebral ischemia. These results suggest that safflower may be a potential candidate for the treatment ofvascular dementia.

This study was conducted to investigate the physicochemical characteristic of Carthamus tinctorius L. seed and to assess its total phenol content, total flavonoids content and antimicrobial activity. The moisture, crude protein, crude fat, crude ash and carbohydrates of the Carthamus tinctorius L. seed were 5.58, 37.16, 13.69, 3.52, and 40.05%, respectively. Total amino acid in Carthamus tinctorius L. seed was 391.99 mg%. The major free sugar of Carthamus tinctorius L. seed were fructose(3.29%) and sucrose(1.74%). Linoleic acid(79.46%) was a major fatty acids in the crude fat of Carthamus tinctorius L. seed. The K and Ca contents were the highest in Carthamus tinctorius L. seed. Total phenol and total flavonoids contents of the ethanolic extract were 55.52 ± 0.99 mg GAE/g and 78.69 ± 0.91 mg QE/g, respectively. The extract from Carthamus tinctorius L. seed showed growth inhibitory effect on Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella typhimurium, Escheria coli, Candida albicans, Bacillus cereus, Listeria monocytogenes, Vibrio parahaemolyticus, and Clustridium perfringens. These results indicate that the Carthamus tinctorius L. seed extract can inhibit food pathogen associated with total phenol and total flavonoids contents.

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.