A Review of Drought Tolerance in Safflower

Safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) is a multipurpose crop that can grow in arid and semi-arid environments because of its tolerance to drought stress, salinity, lower and higher temperatures. Despite safflower’s drought tolerance characteristic, drought stress can negatively impact its growth and development. Drought stress reduces plant height and biomass, leaf chlorophyll content and area, photosynthesis rate, yield components, oil content and yield, and fatty acid composition of safflower. Increased root to shoot ratio and growth of the root are some of the drought adaption mechanisms of safflower. Recent studies have reported biochemical and molecular drought tolerance mechanisms of safflower, but they are still in initial stages. Understanding these mechanisms can help in the management and breeding of cultivars with enhanced drought tolerance. This review compiles literature on the mechanisms of drought stress tolerance in safflower and approaches are proposed that can enhance better safflower management under water stress.