Carthamus tinctorius L. 红花 (Honghua, Safflower)

Abstract

Carthamus tinctorius L. (safflower) is a widely used traditional Chinese medicine, which has been used to treat dysmenorrhea, amenorrhea, postpartum abdominal pain and mass, trauma and pain of joints in China for many years. This article summarizes the up-to-date and comprehensive information on safflower covering the aspects of the botanical identity, chemical constituents, pharmacological studies, TCM applications and dietary usage, clinical evidences, quality evaluation and assurance, and safety evaluation and toxicity issue. Carthamus tinctorius L. is an annual or biennial herbal plant in the family of Compositae, and its tubular flowers have been used as the medicinal material. In terms of chemical constituents, quinochalcones and flavonoids are considered as the characteristic and active constituents of safflower. In accordance with the traditional application and clinical practice of safflower, modern pharmacological studies have also demonstrated that safflower possesses a wide range of medicinal functions, such as dilating coronary artery, improving myocardial ischemia, modulating immune system, anticoagulation and antithrombosis, antioxidation, antiaging, antihypoxia, antifatigue, anti-inflammation, antihepatic fibrosis, antitumor, analgesia, etc. What is more, quality control and toxicity issues are also presented to have a better understanding of safflower.