Sunflowers
are a native North American plant, believed to have started in what now is Arizona and New
Mexico as early as 3000 B.C. They were used by the Indians for food, like wafer bread and
cakes. Indians also cracked and ate the seed like nuts. The sunflower seed also provided
the Indians with a purple dye for baskets, textiles and body paint.
How it is Marketed and used In
the 1500s, early Spanish explorers took sunflowers back to Europe, where they were used as
an ornamental garden plant and kitchen garden food. Peter the Great is credited with
introducing the sunflower to Russia. It has been the main source of edible vegetable oil
in the former Soviet Union and eastern European countries for decades. The food-type
sunflower was brought back to North America by immigrants and cultivated in the Northern
Plains states. Total world production has been about 21 million metric tons in recent
years. The Commonwealth of Independent States produces about one-fourth of the world's
sunflowers, followed by Argentina, France, Spain, the United States and China. The United
States grows about 6 percent of world sunflower stocks.
The Types of Sunflowers
There are two types of sunflowers: 1. Oilseed sunflowers, which were first grown in
Canada in the 1930s, account for about 90 percent of U.S. production. Sunflowers are one
of the world's four major annual crops grown for edible oil (the others being soybeans,
peanuts and rapeseed.) The oilseed sunflower produces a small, pure black seed that is
very rich in vegetable oil. Production is concentrated in the Dakotas and Minnesota. 2.
Confectionery (or food) sunflowers account for the rest
of U.S. production. The seeds typically are larger than the oilseed variety. This is the
kind of sunflower seed used for raw, roasted or salted snack food, as well as for food for
birds and small animals. Production is concentrated in North Dakota and Minnesota. Lesser
quantities are grown in South Dakota, California and Texas.
The Sunflower Plant - Stages of Life
The sunflower is a member of the
thistle family and is a warm-season crop grown in a wide variety of soils. Yields vary
greatly, depending on the region where sunflowers are grown. Planting:
Sunflowers are planted in late spring and early summer in the Northcentral states.
Growing:The plants grow rapidly,
reaching heights of between four and 20 feet. The growing season lasts approximately 120
days. Usually, the plant has only a single, hair-covered stem that may be more than one
inch in diameter. The sunflower is a unique plant because of its reaction to sunlight. The
head of the sunflower points East toward the sun during the morning. As the day wears on,
the stem rotates so that the sunflower head follows the path of the sun.
Harvesting: Combines equipped with a special
sunflower header attachment are used to harvest the crop, starting in September after the
backs of the sunflower heads are yellow or yellowish brown.
Sunflowers -- How They're Transformed into Useful
Products
Sunflowers travel a different path
depending on whether they are of the oilseed or confectionery variety. The oilseed
sunflowers used in human food and industrial products are processed at crushing
plants, which crush or roll the seed and then cook the seed to separate the oil and meal: The meal, which is very high in protein, is an important
feed ingredient for livestock and poultry, particularly beef cattle and calves. The oil, which represents about 40 percent of the
sunflowerseed's weight, is a high-quality vegetable product used in human foods. Sunflower
seed oil also has several important industrial uses. Confectionery
(or food) sunflowers are handled differently depending on their size: The
largest seeds are sold to processors for roasting as whole seeds for packaged snacks.
Medium-sized seeds are dehulled (the hull is removed) before the kernel is roasted and
packaged for snacks and for ingredients for candy. The smallest seeds are used for bird
seed and pet food, packaged either by themselves or mixed with other grains.
Many Good Things Come from Sunflowers
Hull: High-energy
content. A byproduct from processing (particularly confectionery seeds). Generally ground
and pelleted and used as an animal feed ingredient for:
| beef | cattle| poultry| dairy
| cattle| Also used in
industrial products like: | fertilizer |
fiberboard |
Seed (Endosperm and Embryo): The oil-rich inner portion of the sunflower. Produces sunoil, a
high-quality vegetable oil used in such food products as: |
salad oil | salad dressings |
vegetable shortenings | cooking oil |
margarine |
Sunflowerseed oil also has important industrial uses as a drying agent used in: |paints| resins|
plastics|
|
