Product name: Du Honghua: produced in Ningbo, Zhejiang. Good quality.
Huaihonghua: Also known as Huaihonghua. Produced in wen county, Qinyang, Wuzhi and Mengxian (Old Huaiqing House). The quality is also good.
Scattered safflower: produced in Shangqiu, Henan. The quality is also good.
Safflower: produced in Shandong.
Sichuan safflower: produced in Sichuan.
South safflower: produced in the south of China (refers to the kind produced in Nanchong, Sichuan).
Crocus sativus: produced in Shaanxi.
Cloud safflower: produced in Yunnan.
Most importantly, it is best to be red and yellow, bright, dry and soft.
Safflower cake: also known as business card safflower. Mud safflower while it is hot, spread it into thin slices, and dry it for medicine.
The source is the tubular flower of Carthamus tinctorius in Compositae.
The plant is an annual herb with a height of about1m. The stem is erect and the upper part is multi-branched. The leaves are oblong, pointed at the top, sessile, stipe at the base, pinnate teeth at the edge, spikes at the end of the teeth, and hairless on both sides; The upper leaves are smaller and form bracts around the inflorescence. The head is the end and arranged in an umbrella shape; The total bract has several layers, the outer layer is green, ovate-lanceolate, with spikes on the edge, and the inner layer is oval, white and membranous; They are all tubular flowers, first yellow, then orange-red; Achene oval, about 5 meters long, glabrous, or scaly. 1 year-old herb, flowering in May-July, bearing fruit in July-September, 30-90cm high, alternate leaves, oval or needle-shaped, hard in texture, smooth and hairless on both sides, with barbed teeth on the edge, head flower, bisexual tubular flower, orange corolla, containing carthamin, which can be used as a red dye for textile. Flowers can also be used as menstrual drugs, which have the functions of breaking blood and promoting blood circulation, reducing swelling and relieving pain, and are mainly used to treat women's irregular menstruation. It not only has medicinal value, but also can extract oil from seeds. It is an important oil crop, and the oil content of achene is 34 ~ 55%. Oil contains oryzanol 0.5%, 80 mg per kilogram of oil, and is rich in phospholipids. Safflower oil contains high unsaturated fatty acids, and its linoleic acid content is as high as 70-80%, which has a good health care effect on human cardiovascular system. At the same time, safflower oil contains more vitamin E( 146mg/ 100ml), which is incomparable to oil. Safflower oil can not only be eaten directly by people, but also has a good health care function. At the same time, it can also be developed into linoleic acid capsules, vitamin E and cosmetics. Safflower protein in safflower oil meal is also a high value-added product.
Safflower seed oil contains high linoleic acid, which has the functions of reducing blood lipid and serum cholesterol, softening and dilating arteries, preventing atherosclerosis, increasing blood circulation, regulating heart and aging endocrine system. Safflower seed oil is also a good oil for industry and medicine. It can also be used as paint, spray paint and coating for precision parts, and it is also the raw material for manufacturing alkyd resin. Used as antioxidant and stabilizer for vitamins A and D in medicine. The pressed oil cake is rich in protein and can be used as concentrated feed for livestock.
The growth period of safflower is short, and it usually takes only 120 days from sowing to harvesting. Strong adaptability, not strict with soil requirements. The taproot is developed (2 meters deep) and has the ability of drought resistance, cold resistance and salt tolerance, which is suitable for cultivation in northern and northwest China.
It is cultivated all over the country.
Summer flowers are picked when they are orange-red, dried in the shade, dried in the sun or dried in the sun.
The tubular flower is 1 ~ 2 cm long, and the surface is red, yellow or red. Corolla tube is slender, apex 5-lobed, lobes narrow, 5 ~ 8 mm long; Stamens 5, anthers aggregated into tube, * * * with white; The stigma is slender and cylindrical, and the top is slightly forked. Soft. The gas is slightly fragrant and the taste is slightly bitter.
Chemical constituents include carthamin, neocatecholamine, carthamin, safflower polysaccharide, palmitic acid, cinnamic acid and lauric acid.
It is warm in nature and pungent in taste.
Function is mainly used for promoting blood circulation, removing blood stasis and relieving pain. Used for amenorrhea, dysmenorrhea, lochia, abdominal lump, and traumatic injury. The ancients often used a handful of safflower when the blood was in the body: gauze bags were boiled twice a day and soaked in feet, which was suitable for various varicose veins, peripheral neuritis and blood circulation.
Bad, numb or bruised legs.
Note that the fruit is called Ping Zi and contains "safflower seed" oil, which can reduce cholesterol and hyperlipidemia; Softening and dilating blood vessels, anti-aging,
Regulate endocrine.
Medicinal safflower:
[Source] This product is the dried flower of Carthamus tinctorius in Compositae.
[Plant Morphology] Annual or biennial herbs, 30 ~ 90 cm high. Leaves alternate, ovate or ovate-lanceolate, 4 ~12cm long and1~ 3cm wide, with an acuminate apex, irregular serrations at the edge and spikes at the tooth tips; Almost sessile, slightly supporting stem. The capitulum is terminal, with a diameter of 3-4 cm. The total bracts are multi-layered, the outermost layer is 2-3 leaflike, with unequal sharp teeth on the edge, several layers of ovals on the inner surface and short spines on the upper edge. They are all tubular flowers, bisexual, and the corolla is yellow at first and gradually turns orange. Achene is white, obovate, about 5 mm long, with four edges without hair. The flowering period is from May to July, and the fruiting period is from July to September.
[Characteristics of Medicinal Materials] Flowers gather into irregular clusters. Red or red and yellow. The length of a single flower is about 1.5cm, the corolla tube is slender, the top is 5-lobed, and the lobes are narrow and linear, with a length of 5 ~ 7 mm Stamens 5, anthers aggregated into tubular, yellow. The stigma is long and cylindrical, and the top is slightly forked. Soft. It has a special aroma and a slightly bitter taste. After soaking, the water turns golden yellow and the flowers don't fade.
Indications: promoting blood circulation and dredging channels, removing blood stasis and relieving pain. Can be used for amenorrhea, dysmenorrhea, lochia, abdominal mass, traumatic injury, and sores.
【 Precautions 】 Pregnant women should use it with caution.
Textual research: From Materia Medica: "Red and blue flowers are red flowers. Today it is everywhere. Others planted them in nurseries, while Puckilo planted them in farmland in winter, and seedlings were born in spring. There are flowers in Chennai, and the lower part is a pool of thorns, and the stamens come out of the shuttlecock. Gardeners accepted the dew, picked them, and they came back. The pestle is strong and white, as big as adzuki bean. Its flowers are dried to dye Zhen Hong and fatten the swallows. The main postpartum blood disease wins. Actually, it's the same. The leaves are quite blue, so there is a blue name. " Notes on Gouyuan Materia Medica: "Red and blue flowers, nourishing blood and decocting in water, boiling broken blood wine."
Identification of the original medicinal materials: dry tubular flower, about 65438 0.5 cm long, orange-red, narrow tube, 5 cracks at the top. Lobes are narrowly linear, 5 ~ 7 mm long, 5 stamens, yellow anthers, tubular, higher than lobes, with stigma exposed in the center. It has a special aroma and a slightly bitter taste. It is best to have long flowers, bright red colors and soft texture. Microscopic identification: powder: reddish brown. ① Secretory cells are long and tubular, with a diameter of 5 ~ 66 microns, and their cavities are filled with yellow secretions. ② Pollen grains are round, oval or olive-shaped, with a diameter of 39 ~ 60 microns, with three germination holes, and the dentate process of the outer wall can be seen under the light microscope. ③ Calcium oxalate is square or rectangular and exists in parenchyma cells. ④ The epidermal cells of the style differentiate into single cell hairs. In addition, there are corolla epidermal cells, pollen sac inner wall cells, anther basal cells and connective reticular cells. This product is red and yellow in color, bright in color, without branches and leaves, soft in quality and soft to the touch.
Chemical composition of traditional Chinese medicine: Carthamus tinctorius contains safflower yellow pigment and carthamin. Crocin is hydrolyzed with hydrochloric acid to obtain glucose and crocin. It also contains15alpha, 20β- dihydroxy -δ4- Dean -3- one (15alpha, 20β- dihydroxy -δ4- pregnene -3- one). Another fatty oil called safflower oil is glyceride of palmitic acid, stearic acid, arachidic acid, oleic acid, linoleic acid and linolenic acid. The leaves contain luteolin -7- glucoside. It also contains xylan, picroside, etc. Flowers contain carthamin, carthamin and neocarthamin. Pale yellow flowers contain new anthocyanins and trace anthocyanins; Dark yellow flowers contain red shoes; Orange-red flowers contain crocin and crocin quinone glycoside. The change of safflower corolla from yellow to red is due to the changes of these components, and the main commodity is safflower quinone glycoside. It is also reported that crocus sativus contains 0.839% safflower and crocus sativus contains 0.483% safflower. It is also reported that the platelet aggregation inhibitor in safflower is adenosine, which also contains safflower polysaccharide. It is reported that flowers contain safflower yellow A, kaempferol, quercetin, kaempferol -3- glucoside, quercetin -3- glucoside, cucurbitacin -7- glucoside and kaempferol -3- rutin.
Dyeing function of safflower
Safflower (also known as red and blue grass) can be dyed directly on fibers, so it plays an extremely important role in red dyes. Red was once a popular color in Sui and Tang Dynasties. In the Tang Dynasty, Jong Li's poem "The color of safflower covers thousands of flowers, but the blood of orangutans is not added" vividly outlines the extraordinary gorgeous effect of safflower. According to modern scientific analysis, safflower contains yellow pigment and red pigment, of which yellow pigment is easily soluble in water and acidic solution and has no dyeing value; However, red pigment is easily soluble in alkaline aqueous solution, and can precipitate in neutral or weakly acidic solution to form bright red lake.
The ancient people used safflower to brew red dye like this: after picking the safflower stained with dew, they "smashed" it into slurry and then soaked it in water. Twist out the yellow pigment (that is, yellow juice) with a cloth bag, so that most of the remaining thick juice is red pigment. After washing with sour millet or rice washing water, the residual yellow pigment can be further removed to obtain bright red pigment. This method of extracting safflower pigment was called "flower killing method" by the ancients and spread to Japan and other countries in Sui and Tang Dynasties. If you want to use safflower for a long time, just cover it with Artemisia annua (which has antibacterial effect) overnight, knead it into a cake, then dry it in the shade and make it into a "safflower cake" for preservation. When you use it, you only need to fry it in dark plum water, and then clarify it several times with alkaline water or plant ash, and you can dye it. "Safflower Cake" became popular after the Song and Yuan Dynasties.
In addition, safflower can also be used as rouge.