Journal of International Scientific Publications: Ecology and Safety Volume 8, ISSN 1314-7234 (Online), Published at: http://www.scientific-publications.net THE EFFECT OF ORGANIC AMENDMENTS ON THE CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF SAFFLOWER (Carthamus tinctorius L.) MEAL Violina R. Angelova, Vanja I. Akova, Krasimir I. Ivanov University of Agriculture, Department of Chemistry, Plovdiv, Bulgaria Abstract The effects of organic soil amendments (compost and vermicompost) on the chemical composition of safflower meal (heavy metals, micro and macroelements and amino acid compostion) were studied. Field experiments with randomized complete block design with five treatments (control, compost amendments added at 5 and 10% , and vemicompost amendments added at 5 and 10%) were carried out. Tested organic amendments significantly influenced the chemical composition of safflower meal. The compost and vermicompost treatments significantly reduced heavy metals concentration in safflower meals, but the effect differed among them. Addition of compost affected significantly the mineral contents of the safflower meal. Treatment with vermicompost leads to a slight decrease in nutrient content, the decrease was more pronounced with the introduction of 5% vermicompost. In potassium and calcium was observed almost no influence of the additive. Crude protein and amino acids composition was affected by compost and vermicompost amendment treatments. The composition of nonessential and essential amino acids affect both organic amendments, which in most cases is opposite. The effect of amendments was mainly manifested in the non-essential amino acid content of meal, the 10% compost treatment entrained an increase by about 48%. At the same time, also the essentials content increased, but moderately, exceeding control by max. 29.6%. The C. tinctorius is a good source of protein supplement in livestock. It is necessary to supplement safflower seed meal based diets with the sulphur- containing amino acids (methionine and cystine) in order prevent nutritional deficiencies of these essential amino acids. Key words: safflower meal, organic amendments, chemical composition, amino acid content 1. INTRODUCTION Safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) is an annual plant originally grown for its flowers, which were used in aking red and yellow dyes for clothing and food preparation. Today, safflower it is primarily cultivated for its oil, which is used for food and industrial purposes. Safflower can be used as animal feeds, birds feed and in small quantity for ruminants feed as whole seeds or meals (Oelke et al., 1992). The seed contains nearly 35–50% oil, 15–20% protein, and 35–45% hull fraction (Betschart, 1975; Rahamatalla et al 1998, 2001)]. The proteins from the safflower seeds are of good nutritional quality Betschart, 1979). The total protein contains high amounts of aspartic acid, glutamic acid, valine, glycine and phenylalanine (Latha and Prakash, 1984). The utilization of safflower protein concentrate in food has been limited because of color and bitter principles and also the high content of crude fiber [6]. Whole safflower seeds are mainly used for petfood, either as birdseeds for wild birds, racing pigeons, parrots and other pet birds, or for pet mammals such as gerbils, hamsters and chinchillas. Safflower seeds are normally too expensive to be used as a feed ingredient for farm animals (Oelke et al., 1992; Mündel et al., 2004). Safflower meal, a by-product of the oil industry, is mostly used as a protein ingredient for animal feeding. Dehulling improves crushing efficiency, but the hardness of the seed coat and the extreme softness of the kernel make the operation costly and only economically viable if there is a market for hulls (GRDC, 2010; Smith, 1996). Protein content is about 20-25 % in the undecorticated meal but can be over 40 % in decorticated meals (Dajue et al., 1996; Göhl, 1982). Crude fibre content is about 30-40 % for undecorticated meal and can be as low as 10 % in the dehulled meal (GRDC, 2010). High-protein meals containing more than 40 % protein can be obtained by sifting the regular meal and removing hull fragments (Alvarez-Gonzalez et al., 2007). The quality of safflower meal is highly variable as it depends on the amount of hulls and on the extent of oil extraction. Commercial safflower meal with 25% protein is considered a high protein by-product. Meal from de-hulled seeds is a high quality protein supplement similar to canola meal, but with slightly more protein and energy. Most commercial safflower meals includes hulls. This results in a medium protein (25% CP) meal that is high in fiber content (50% ADF) (Alobeid et al, 2010). The fiber content of this meal is too high for most swine and poultry diets. Hulled safflower meal is comparable to dried brewers' grains as a feed for ruminants, although the fiber is less digestible. Limited information indicates that safflower meal is relatively high in ruminal bypass 441