Volatile oil composition of <i>Carthamus Tinctorius</i> L. flowers grown in Kazakhstan.

INTRODUCTION: <i>Carthamus tinctorius L.</i> is commonly known as Safflower. <i>C. tinctorius</i> extracts and oil are important in drug development with numerous pharmacological activities in the world. This plant is cultivated mainly for its seed which is used as edible oil. For a long time, <i>C. tinctorius</i> has been used in traditional medicines as a purgative, analgesic, antipyretic and an antidote to poisoning. It is a useful plant in painful menstrual problems, post-partum haemorrhage and osteoporosis.

OBJECTIVE: The subject of this study is the seeds of Kazakhstan species of 'Akmai' safflower, collected in the flowering stage in Southern Kazakhstan. Volatile oil was carry out to study the component composition of Kazakhstan 'AkMai' safflower flowers.

MATERIALS AND METHOD: Pale yellow oily extracts were obtain by varying the process parameters. The volatile oil obtained by hydrodistillation of the petals <i>Carthamus tinctorius L.</i> was analyzed by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS). The yield of the oil was 0.175 % (v/w). 20 compounds representing 99.81% of the oil were characterized. The volatile oil was found to be rich in undecanoic acid, octane, 2-nonen -1-ol, hexadecanal, dodecanal, dec-2-en-1-ol, nonanoic acid, tetradecanoic acid, 2 pentadecanone, 6,10,14-trimethyl, 1,2-benzenedicarboxylic acid, isobutyl-beta-phenylpropionate, 1.3-cyclohexadiene, myrtenoic acid, octadecanoic acid, heneicosanoic acid, 2(3H)-furanone, 4,4-dipropylheptane, hexcosane,1-eicosanol, as well as heptocosane.

RESULTS: Volatile oil from the flowers of the Kazakhstan safflower species 'Ak-Mai' were investigated by GC/MS which allowed the detection of 20 compounds. Biologically active complex of the flower of the Kazakhstan safflower species 'Ak-Mai' was released for the first time by using this oil.