Yield Performance and Oil Composition of Safflower (Carthamus Tinctorius L.) Cultivars Under Semi-Arid Conditions in Northern Türkiye

The shortage of vegetable oil in Turkey is escalating daily. Increasing the production of safflower oil seeds, which are particularly adapted to semi-arid climatic conditions, could reduce dependence on foreign sources for vegetable oil. In this study, the yield and quality characteristics of eight safflower varieties were evaluated under semi-arid ecological conditions in northern Turkey. Field trials were conducted over two years (2020–2021) with three replications, following the ‘’Randomized Block Experiment Design’’. Significant differences were observed between the varieties in terms of the examined parameters. The highest average grain yield (1730.9 kg ha⁻¹) was obtained from the Göktürk variety, the highest oil content (30.7%) from the Balcı variety, and the highest oil yield (470.1 kg ha⁻¹) from the Olas variety. The highest oleic acid content (50.14% ± 3.9) was obtained from the Koc variety, and the highest stearic acid content (2.68% ± 0.1) was obtained from the Hasankendi variety. The linoleic acid (77.71% ± 0.4) and palmitic acid (5.92% ± 0.1) ratios were found to be higher in the Dincer variety compared to other varieties. The research highlights the importance of genotypes in asparagus. It demonstrates that the Göktürk and Olas varieties stand out in terms of yield and yield components in semi-arid ecosystems. These results provide variety-specific information for regional adaptation in safflower breeding and under challenging climatic conditions.