Sensory characteristics of different stages of safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) leaves and leaf powder incorporated products

Safflower leaves from four cultivars during different stages of crop growth (30, 50, 70 and 90 days) wereincorporated to develop two traditional productsi.e.,safflowerleaves(35%)incorporated roti(SFLR) and safflowerleaf powder(15%)incorporated "karampodi" (SLKP). Sensory evaluation was carried out on a 9 point hedonic scale for both the products. Results of sensory evaluation revealed that 35% incorporation of safflower leaves in SFLR and 15% incorporation ofsafflowerleaf powderin SLKP products had high scoresfor overall acceptability and there was not much difference in sensory attributes among the cultivars used in the study. It was observed that safflower leaf powder "karam podi" was liked more in all the sensory parameters as compared to safflower leaves roti. It can also be inferred that fresh leaves from non-spiny varieties such as NARI-6 can be consumed up to 90 days where as spiny varieties of safflower such as Annigeri-1, Manjira and TSF-1 can be well acceptable up to 50 days. The spiny varieties can be consumed up to 70th day also, due to their nutrient composition, but should be incorporated at a level lesser than 35% or can be tested in othersuitable recipes. Spiny varieties ofsafflower leaves during 70 days of crop growth, when used as powder will not have any detrimental effects of sensory properties.