Cosar, IbrahimGul, VolkanSefaoglu, Firat2026-02-282026-02-2820251735-68141735-8043https://doi.org/10.1007/s42106-025-00402-xhttps://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12403/5967The shortage of vegetable oil in Turkey is escalating daily. Increasing the production of safflower oil seeds, which are particularly adapted to semi-arid climatic conditions, could reduce dependence on foreign sources for vegetable oil. In this study, the yield and quality characteristics of eight safflower varieties were evaluated under semi-arid ecological conditions in northern Turkey. Field trials were conducted over two years (2020-2021) with three replications, following the ''Randomized Block Experiment Design''. Significant differences were observed between the varieties in terms of the examined parameters. The highest average grain yield (1730.9 kg ha-1) was obtained from the G & ouml;kt & uuml;rk variety, the highest oil content (30.7%) from the Balc & imath; variety, and the highest oil yield (470.1 kg ha-1) from the Olas variety. The highest oleic acid content (50.14% +/- 3.9) was obtained from the Koc variety, and the highest stearic acid content (2.68% +/- 0.1) was obtained from the Hasankendi variety. The linoleic acid (77.71% +/- 0.4) and palmitic acid (5.92% +/- 0.1) ratios were found to be higher in the Dincer variety compared to other varieties. The research highlights the importance of genotypes in asparagus. It demonstrates that the G & ouml;kt & uuml;rk and Olas varieties stand out in terms of yield and yield components in semi-arid ecosystems. These results provide variety-specific information for regional adaptation in safflower breeding and under challenging climatic conditions.eninfo:eu-repo/semantics/closedAccessCultivarsNorthern T & uuml;rkiyeOil contentOleic acidSafflowerSeed traitsArticle20110.1007/s42106-025-00402-x2-s2.0-105025228569Q1WOS:001643358100002Q2