Sunday, March 20, 2011
The sunflower is a striking annual which can reach 12 ft (3.5m) or more. It has large yellow flowers sometimes 12 in (30 cm) across which are enjoyed by bees and thereby make a contribution to honey. Sunflowers happily grow in temperature climates, including that of Britain, and are grown commercially in parts of Russia, Argentina and Canada. It has such a great capacity for taking up water that is sometimes planted in areas to help drain soils. Large tracts of marginal land can be seen in the Netherlands planted with sunflowers. Little is wasted of the plant; leaves and stems contain fibers which can be used in paper-making or are fed to livestock along with the residual oilcake. Sunflower seeds contain about 40% oil. They are very nutritious and often eaten raw or roasted and salted in their shells. They are fed to poultry and are an important ingredient of bird – feed mixtures for cage birds.
After soybean oil, sunflower oil is the least expensive and with its neutral flavor, light yellow color and high percentage of unsaturated fats is good value for salad dressings and shallow, deep and stir-frying. It is also employed in the manufacture of varnishes and soaps.
0 comments:
Post a Comment