Safflower seeds: nutrition per 100 g

1. 01

   Thiamine and vitamin B6

   Safflower seeds carry 0.85 mg thiamine and 0.93 mg vitamin B6 per 100 g. The thiamine ranks 3rd of 239 foods, covering about 47 per cent of a man's daily requirement, and the B6 about 39 per cent.

2. 02

   Magnesium and zinc

   Its magnesium, 321 mg per 100 g, ranks 11th of 242 foods, and its zinc, 3.9 mg, ranks 18th of 243. That magnesium meets roughly 73 per cent of the daily need for men and 87 per cent for women.

3. 03

   Fibre and calcium

   With 13.5 g dietary fibre per 100 g, safflower seed ranks 27th of 256 foods. It also carries 211 mg calcium and 82 micrograms of folate.

4. 04

   Mostly polyunsaturated fat

   Of 30.9 g fat per 100 g, 18.78 g is polyunsaturated and only 2.55 g saturated. Its carbohydrate, 30.2 g, is 2nd highest among nuts and oilseeds.

Values per 100 g of the edible portion. Source: Longvah T, Ananthan R, Bhaskarachary K, Venkaiah K. Indian Food Composition Tables 2017. National Institute of Nutrition, Indian Council of Medical Research, Hyderabad. Daily-need shares use the ICMR-NIN 2020 recommended dietary allowances for a 65 kg man and a 55 kg woman doing sedentary work (ICMR-NIN brief note). Nutrients IFCT did not analyse for this food are left out rather than shown as zero.

• Pressed into kardai tel, safflower oil, for everyday cooking in Marathwada and north Karnataka.
• Hulled seeds dry-roasted and ground with garlic, chilli and salt into a chutney powder, the way niger and flax are used.
• Roasted, lightly salted kernels as a crunchy snack, much like sunflower seeds.
• Kardai bhaji, the plant's young leaves cooked with garlic and onion, a winter dish of the same farms.

Safflower seeds have a tough hull that is hard to chew, so they are usually hulled, roasted or ground before eating. IFCT 2017 records 31.74 mg vitamin E per 100 g, which would rank 1st of 242 foods; that figure is very high for a seed with this much oil, so treat it with caution. Like other oil-rich seeds, they turn rancid quickly. At 473 kcal per 100 g, a spoonful of ground seed is a reasonable portion.

Food composition is general information, not a diet plan. Anyone managing a medical condition should plan their diet with a doctor or a registered dietitian.

• Safflower oil

  Nutrition per 100 g, from IFCT 2017.

• Sunflower seeds

  Nutrition per 100 g, from IFCT 2017.

• Niger seeds

  Nutrition per 100 g, from IFCT 2017.

• Flaxseeds (alsi)

  Nutrition per 100 g, from IFCT 2017.

• Sesame seeds (til)

  Nutrition per 100 g, from IFCT 2017.

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