What is the state flower of Kansas, the national flower of Ukraine, and one of the city flowers of Kitakyushu, Japan? It is often used as a symbol of green ideology, much as the red rose is a symbol of socialism or social democracy. It is also the subject of Vincent van Gogh’s most famous still life.
Sunflower, that’s what. Unknowingly, most Filipinos don’t know is that what is usually called the flower is actually a head of numerous florets (small flowers) crowded together. The outer florets are the sterile ray florets and can be yellow, maroon, orange, or other colors. The florets inside the circular head are called disc florets, which mature into what are traditionally called “sunflower seeds,” but are actually the fruit of the plant. The inedible husk is the wall of the fruit and the true seed lies within the kernel.
To most Filipinos, sunflowers are good only for the eyes. Unknowingly, they are also good for the stomach. In fact, in recent years, sunflowers have become popular as a snack food (just like “butong pakwan”). Those varieties for eating are soaked or coated with ingredients to improve the seed’s characteristics.
Flavor enhancers are often added to increase appeal and differentiate product types. Salt is the most common flavor enhancer; it can provide a subtle taste effect that removes the “off flavor” inherent in raw sunflower seeds. A small amount of sugar or dry corn syrup can be added to impart a sweet flavor. Spices and herbs such as garlic, onion powder, or black pepper can also have a unique effect on how a sunflower seed tastes.
Sunflowers can also be processed into a peanut butter alternative (“Sunbutter”), especially in China, Russia, the United States, the Middle East, and Europe. In Germany, it is mixed together with rye flour to make Sonnenblumenkernbrot (literally: sunflower whole seed bread), which is quite popular in German-speaking Europe.
At the Central Luzon State University in Science City (CLSU) of Munoz, sunflowers are grown for their economic value. According to Prof. Mario Agustin, leader of the sunflower culture at the demo farm, “high-quality edible oil” can be extracted from the sunflowers.
Aside from its pleasant odor, the oil contained linoleic acid (also known as Omega-6 fatty acid essential for a healthy diet) and vitamins. The oil can be used for cooking and to produce margarine and biodiesel.
There are commercial sunflower varieties that contain from 39 to 49% oil in the seed. In fact, the oil accounts for 80% of the value of the sunflower crop, as contrasted with soybean which derives most of its value from the meal.
Aside from those mentioned earlier, several applications of sunflower oil have also been explored. It has been used in certain paints, varnishes and plastics because of good semidrying properties without color modification associated with oils high in linolenic acid. In Eastern Europe and Russia where sunflower oil is plentiful, sunflower oil is used commonly in the manufacture of soaps and detergents.
The use of sunflower oil, like other vegetable oil, as a pesticide carrier, and in the production of agrichemicals, surfactants, adhesives, plastics, fabric softeners, lubricants and coatings has been studied.
The cake remaining after the seeds have been processed for oil is used as a livestock feed.
According to some studies, sunflower meal is higher in fiber, has a lower energy value and is lower in lysine but higher in methionine than soybean meal.
Sunflowers can also be used as a silage crop. They can be used as a double crop after early harvested small grains or vegetables, an emergency crop, or in areas with a season too short to produce mature corn for silage.
Sunflowers may also be used to extract toxic ingredients from soil, such as lead, arsenic and uranium. They were used to remove uranium, cesium-137, and strontium-90 from soil after the Chernobyl disaster.
The CLSU has been growing sunflower since early 70s, mainly for its edible oil.
As they are called sunflowers, they need full sun. Sunflower is a classic example of heliotropism, or the involuntary response of plant to the sun. It turns its head directly to face the sun and reorients overnight to wait for the rising of the sunrise. So, early dawn, looking at them in a vast area of a sunflower field, they look all drooped and weak. However, this phenomenon has the benefit of reducing bird damage and disease development.
The sunflower (scientific name: Helianthus annuus) is native to the Americas. The earliest known examples of a fully domesticated sunflower north of Mexico have been found in Tennessee and date to around 2300 BC. Many indigenous American peoples used the sunflower as the symbol of their solar deity, including the Aztecs and the Otomi of Mexico and the Incas in South America. Francisco Pizarro was the first European to encounter the sunflower in Tahuantinsuyo, Peru. Gold images of the flower, as well as seeds, were taken back to Spain early in the 16th century.
Spanish explorers brought the sunflower to Europe in 1510. However, it was not until the late 1800s when the flower was introduced to Russia that the sunflower became a food crop. In 1860, Russian farmers made significant improvements in the way that the sunflower was cultivated.
Today, sunflower has gone a long, long way. It accounts for about 14 percent of the world production of seed oils and about 7 percent of the oilcake and meal produced from oilseeds.
