• What are sunflower seeds?
  • 1. Introduction Sunflower seeds are the seeds of plants in the Helianthus genus (Helianthus annuus L.) and one of the four most widely grown and consumed oil crops in the world [1, 2], and their production had increased year by year to more than 47 million tons by 2023 (USDA) .
  • Which countries produce sunflower seeds?
  • Sunflower is a globally important oilseed, food, and ornamental crop and the seed accounts for approximately 10% of the world’s edible plant-derived oil (Dantas et al., 2017; Del Gatto et al., 2015; Seiler et al., 2017). The USA, Ukraine, and Argentina are the main world producers of sunflower (Dantas et al., 2017).
  • How is sunflower seed processed for oil production?
  • Figure 1 shows a flowchart of sunflower seed processing for oil production that results in sunflower seed byproducts (whole and defatted sunflower meals) (Figure 2). The process starts with the crushing of the seed, where the whole sunflower meal is generated.
  • Are sunflower seeds a good alternative to oil?
  • The use of sunflower seed byproduct and its fractions are promising ingredients for the development of healthier and less expensive foods as well as the alternative to decrease the environmental problems caused by the sunflower oil industry. The sunflower (Helianthus annus L.), belonging to the Asteraceae family, is an annual crop plant.
  • What is a sunflower seed byproduct?
  • The sunflower seed byproduct is also a source of phenolic compounds with bioactive properties, mainly chlorogenic acid, which can be extracted by different methods and applied in the development of functional foods and active and bioactive food packaging.
  • Which countries import sunflower oil?
  • 75% of sunflower oil imports are bought by 8?countries (see Tab. 2 ). EU, CIS (mainly Ukraine and Russia) and Turkey are also exporters. The European Union is net importer of approx. 0.9?MnT /year; CIS is net exporter of 7.7?MnT.