Sunflower oil
oil pressed from the seed of Helianthus annuus
Sunflower oil is the non-volatile oil pressed from the seeds of the sunflower (Helianthus annuus). Sunflower oil is commonly used in food as a frying oil, and in cosmetic formulations as an emollient.
Sunflower oil is primarily composed of linoleic acid, a polyunsaturated fat, and oleic acid, a monounsaturated fat. Through selective breeding and manufacturing processes, oils of differing proportions of the fatty acids are produced. The expressed oil has a neutral taste profile. The oil contains a large amount of vitamin E.
Composition
Sunflower oil is mainly a triglyceride. The British Pharmacopoeia lists the following profile:
Palmitic acid (saturated): 5%
Stearic acid (saturated): 6%
Oleic acid (monounsaturated omega-9): 30%
Linoleic acid (polyunsaturated omega-6): 59%
Four types of sunflower oils with differing concentrations of fatty acids are produced through plant breeding and industrial processing: high-linoleic (conventional), high-oleic, mid-oleic, and high-stearic combined with high-oleic.
High-linoleic, 69% linoleic acid
High-oleic, 82% oleic acid
Mid-oleic, 65% oleic acid
High-stearic with high-oleic, 18% stearic acid and 72% oleic acid
Genome
A 2017 genome analysis provided a basis for the development of hybrid sunflowers to increase oil production. Analysis of the sunflower genome duplication – starting about 29 million years ago – revealed two major breeding traits: flowering time and oil metabolism, which can be cultivated to improve the commercialization of sunflower oil.
In further analysis of the sunflower genome to reveal plant metabolism producing its oil, phytosterols and other phytochemicals, such as polyphenols, squalene, and terpenoids, were identified.
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This entry incorporates text from “Sunflower oil” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.