Safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) Seed Oils: Effect of Extraction Process and Cultivars on Chemical Composition, Physicochemical Parameters and Nutritional Quality Index

This paper examines the nutritional and metabolic characteristics of Carthamus tinctorius seed oils produced in two regions across Morocco and assesses how various extraction methods, Soxhlet, cold pressing, and maceration, affect oil yield and the presence of bioactive compounds, which establishes the data on Moroccan cultivars that have limited information. Soxhlet ex- traction provided the highest oil yield, with the oil being rich in linoleic acid (40.45% ± 0.17%–80.25% ± 0.16%), a polyunsaturated fatty acid. Despite the high PUFA content raising concerns about oxidative stability, both varieties extracted without solvent had peroxide value (9.62 ± 0.03 and 9.45 ± 0.04 meq O2/kg) below the recommended limits for cold pressed oils, and high levels of tocopherol, especially α-tocopherol (580.66±0.27–837.61±0.22mg/kg), contribute to antioxidative protection. Also, the key nutritional indicators have highlighted this oil's health benefits. These fundings suggest that this oil is a promising source of dietary lipids, exhibiting excellent values for multiple nutritional indices, including the h/H ratio (3.50 ± 0.06–13.53 ± 0.013), the atherogenicity index (0.079 ± 0.002–0.39 ± 0.015), and the thrombogenicity index (0.211 ± 0.001–0.639 ± 0.01), suggesting poten- tial advantages for cardiovascular health. This research contributes to determining the most appropriate production method for obtaining safflower oil with desirable quality and nutritional properties, thereby paving the way for the potential use of these oils in the agri-food, cosmetic, and pharmaceutic sectors.