Abiotic stresses like drought may modulate the synthesis of plants' secondary metabolites, with various pharmacological effects. In this study, the influence of water deficit was determined on safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) seed yield and oil content as well as antioxidant activity and phenolic and flavonoid compounds of both seed and flower for their industrial application. Eight safflower genotypes were planted in the field in two separate experiments under normal and water deficit conditions in a randomized complete block design. Agronomic traits of the genotypes were measured and their polyphenolic compounds were evaluated using liquid chromatography analysis. Results indicated that averaged over all genotypes and under normal irrigation conditions, seed yield and antioxidant capacity of seed extracts were 74% higher and 2.32 times of those under drought stress conditions, respectively. In contrast, under water stress, flower extracts had 2-fold antioxidant capacity at the expense of a significant decrease in seed yield, seed oil content, and antioxidant capacity of the seeds. The most abundant polyphenolic components in flowers of most genotypes which accumulated due to water stress were vanillic and caffeic acids. While in seeds, rutin and quercetin were more accumulated under normal irrigation regime. Interestingly, three components of apigenin, luteolin, and ferulic acid were not detected in flower extract of any genotypes in both irrigation regimes. The contrasting status of seeds vs. flowers under two environmental conditions were depicted by multivariate data analysis. Based on the principal component analysis, under normal irrigation regime, the higher antioxidant activity of the seeds (seed preferability) was correlated with total content and compounds of flavonoids. In contrast, in water deficit condition, the higher antioxidant activity of the flowers (flower preferability) was correlated with total phenolic content and vanillic, caffeic, and p-coumaric acids. Finally, one breeding line may be introduced with high seed yield and quality under both irrigation regimes, which its higher drought tolerance is possibly due to the induced synthesis of caffeic acid and quercetin.

干旱等非生物胁迫可能会调节植物次生代谢产物的合成，并具有多种药理作用。在这项研究中，确定了水分亏缺对红花（Carthamus tinctoriusL.）种子和油的种子产量和油含量，以及种子和花卉的抗氧化活性以及酚类和类黄酮化合物的工业应用。在正常和缺水条件下，以随机完整块设计在两个单独的实验中，在田间种植了八种红花基因型。测量基因型的农艺性状，并使用液相色谱分析法评估其多酚化合物。结果表明，在所有基因型和正常灌溉条件下，种子提取物的平均产量和抗氧化能力分别比干旱胁迫条件下的平均高74％和2.32倍。相反，在水分胁迫下，花朵提取物的抗氧化能力是其两倍，但其种子产量，种子油含量，和种子的抗氧化能力。在大多数基因型的花中，由于水分胁迫而积累的最丰富的多酚成分是香草酸和咖啡酸。在种子中，芦丁和槲皮素在正常灌溉条件下积累更多。有趣的是，在两种灌溉方式下，在任何基因型的花提取物中均未检测到芹菜素，木犀草素和阿魏酸的三个成分。通过多变量数据分析描述了两种环境条件下种子与花朵的对比状态。基于主成分分析，在正常灌溉条件下，种子较高的抗氧化活性（种子优选性）与总含量和类黄酮化合物相关。相反，在缺水情况下，对香豆酸。最后，在两种灌溉方式下都可以引进高种子产量和高品质的育种系，其较高的耐旱性可能是由于诱导合成的咖啡酸和槲皮素。