Safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) as a novel pasture species for dairy sheep in the Mediterranean conditions of Sardinia and Israel

The nutritional value of sown safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) annual pastures for Mediterranean dairy sheep was investigated in the Northern Negev Desert of Israel (250 mm of rainfall) with Awassi hoggets and in Sardinia (Italy, 590 mm of rainfall) with Sarda milking ewes. Safflower (termed “Saf”) was compared with barley (“Bar”) in Israel, and with chicory (Cichorium intybus L., termed “Chi”) and burr medic (Medicago polymorpha L., termed “Bm”) in Sardinia. In Israel, hoggets grazed more DM (1.8 kg d−1 versus 1.5 kg d−1, P < 0.05), and gained more weight (103 g d−1 versus 44 g d−1, P < 0.05) when grazing safflower than barley. In Italy, the nutritional quality of safflower pasture declined earlier than that of the other pastures. Ewes in the safflower, chicory and burr medic paddocks produced similar milk yields (1.21 ± 0.04 l d−1). Milk fat was lower for Saf than for Bm (5.92 and 6.92%, respectively, P < 0.05). Ewes in the Saf group also produced milk poorer in protein than their counterparts in the Bm group (5.15 and 5.64%, respectively, P < 0.05), possibly because of the higher content of total polyphenols and tannins of safflower. The ewes grazing Chi gained more weight than the counterparts grazing Saf or Bm (P < 0.05). Our data suggest that, owing to good resistance to drought, safflower has the potential of lengthening the duration of lush green pasture under arid (Israel) but not milder semi-arid (Sardinia) Mediterranean conditions.