Sunflower for Food, Fodder and Fertility

Abstract

EARLY in the war-period, Britain's urgent need for edible oils directed attention to the sunflower as a potential source of supply. In the U.S.S.R., Rumania and the Argentine the sunflower had long been grown extensively for this purpose and, more recently, the crop has made considerable headway in the U.S.A., Canada, Uruguay, Hungary, Rhodesia and other lands. The sunflower is a rapidly growing annual which is very catholic in its requirements and each plant produces an enormous number of seeds which contain 32-45 percent of oil. Sunflower oil is a semi-drying oil consisting largely of the glycerides of oleic, linolic and palmitic acids with a small amount of linolenic acid. For human consumption it is equal to the best olive oil in its medicinal and feeding value, in its lack of taste and colour and in its keeping qualities, and it has the advantage over olive oil in that it remains liquid at a lower temperature. For margarine it is probably in the top rank, it is an excellent salad oil and in many countries it is used in place of olive oil or lard for cooking. The seeds are an excellent poultry food, and, after expression of the oil and removal of the indigestible husks, the crushed residues form a valuable feeding cake for stock.

Sunflower for Food, Fodder and Fertility

Its Economic Value, World Expansion and Cultivation with Particular Reference to Great Britain. By E. F. Hurt. Pp. 155 + 20 plates. (London: Faber and Faber, Ltd., 1946.) 10s. 6d. net.