FED IOL ---Vegetable Oils and fats

Our Industry
Major commodities
At FEDIOL we deal with those lipid-producing species that are most important as raw materials for the production of vegetable oils and fats. For some of them, details about cultivation, origin and use, will be given together with data on the typical composition of the oil before refining.

All the statistics given are courtesy of Oil World. Oilseeds description texts source: "Handbook - Vegetable Oils and fats" by Karlshamns.
 
World Production Data
Oilseeds World Production 2005/06 (1000 T)
This figure shows the world production of the major oilseeds for the campaign of 2005/06. Soybeans represent 39 % of the total world production. Palm does not appear in this figure since the palm fruits cannot be transported and are processed on the spot.

Oils and fats World Production 2005/06 (1000 T)
This figure shows the world production of the major vegetable oils and fats for the campaign of 2005/06. In this figure, soya oil, compared with the rest of the commodities, it is not in such a predominant position, because of the low yield (17.5%) of the soybeans. Crude palm oil is considered a raw material in itself, since it is normally refined and even re-refined.

Meals World Production 2005/06 (1000 T)
This figure shows the world production of the major oilseed meals for the campaign of 2005/06.

Oils and fats World Production evolution 1993-2006 (1000 T)
In the following figure you can see the volume growth over a ten-year period of the main vegetable oils. Over the last 10 years, the production of soybean oil and palm oil has almost doubled, dominating the market. Over the same period, rapeseed oil and sunflower oil production have only varied slightly.

Oils and fats Production by main Countries 2005/06 (1000 T)
This figure shows, for the campaign of 2005/06, the world production of selected vegetable oils and fats and its distribution by main country of origin.


Oil & meal yields
Oil seed crops are planted or replanted annually. The acreage sown can vary considerably from year to year, depending partly on the estimated return to the farmer compared to possible alternative crops, such as cereals. The quantity harvested will depend on the yield which is influenced by the variety and strain of seed selected, the usage of fertilisers and pesticides, the influence of the weather and similar related issues.

Trees yielding oil bearing fruits take a few years to become established, but thereafter are capable of producing crops on an on-going basis for many years. The yield obtained is subject to variation year by year, either as a result of climate conditions or due to stress factors associated, for instance, with the size of the previous crop. A typical example of a tree yielding oil-bearing fruit is the palm.
%
OILS
MEALS
standard
minimum
maximum
standard
minimum
maximum
Groundnut 47.5
36.1
44.4
51.5
52.0
61.1
Soya 17.5
16.0
19.4
80.0
73.2
81.0
Rape 39.0
40.0
43.0
56.0
54.9
57.1
Sunflower 42.0
36.2
43.9
39.0/55.0*
54.8
60.8
Cotton
13.0
18.0
52.0
53.0
Copra 63.5
35.0
Palm kernel 46.0
52.0
Lin/Flax 37.0
29.7
38.5
60.0
62.0
69.6
Castor 47.0
45.0
46.0
(+)
(+)
(+)
Maize germs 48.0
35.0
62.0
The standard values given in this figure are conservative estimates; yet crop yields can vary widely.
For soy, rape, sunflower and flax, standard means yields which correspond to quality types (standard) of Community seeds. For groundnut, cotton, copra, palm kernel, castor and others, standard refers to yields obtained from average quality types over several years.
The minimum and maximum are punctual values related to extreme yields obtained from the actual quality of the seeds.
(*) Sunflower yield for meals goes from 39% for dehulled seeds to 55% for non-dehulled seeds.
(+) Castor meals, which are not used in animal feedstuffs, are not taken into account.

Castor
Description and Cultivation
The castor bean (latin Ricinus communis) is not a true bean, but a member of the Euphorbiaceae or spurge family. It is the source of castor oil, which has a wide variety of uses, and ricin, a poison. The name Ricinus is a Latin word for tick; the seed is so named because it has markings and a bump at the end which resembles certain ticks.

Although castor is probably indigenous to Eastern Africa, today castor is distributed worldwide. Castor establishes itself easily as a "native" plant and can often be found on wasteland, near rail roads and has recently also been used extensively as decorative plant in parks etc.
 
Although monotypic, the castor plant can vary greatly in its growth habit and appearance. Some castor plants are perennials which can take the size of small trees; other plants are dwarf types and are grown as annuals. There also exists an enormous variation in leaf shape and colouring which has lead to a selection by breeders for use as ornamental plants.
Global castor seed production is around 1 million tons per year. Leading producing areas are India, China, Brazil and the former USSR. There are several active breeding programmes for castor.
Castor oil
Castor seed contains between 40% and 60% oil which is rich in tryglycerides, mainly ricinolein.
The unique composition of castor oil opens up a vast range of applications, and also permits it to be chemically transformed into a host of other useful forms. This is due to its unusual molecular structure. The oil is mainly composed of ricinoleic acid, a glyceride that does not otherwise occur in nature and is difficult to synthesize; it is characterized by a hydroxyl group and an isolated double bond. It is highly soluble in alcohol and has a viscosity twenty times greater than that of any other fat or oil of vegetable or animal origin.
The main uses of castor oil include the industrial production of coatings based on dehydrated alkyd resins. But it is also employed to make pharmaceuticals and cosmetics, in the textile and leather industries, and for manufacturing plastics and fibres. Polyols for polyurethane systems (especially two-component polyurethane coatings and structural foams) are also derived from it, as well as soaps, printing inks, plasticizers, wetting agents, and lubricants.
About 1% of the global castor oil production goes into medical or health store products. It is used to ease constipation and as an emetic to induce vomiting. Consumption of large amounts of castor oil (below lethal doses, such as one bottle) can induce labor in near-term pregnant women.
The poison ricin is made from the by-products in the manufacture of castor oil.
Currently, 0.1 million tonnes of castor oil are imported by the EU.


Coconut
Description and Cultivation
The coconut palm is one of the most versatile plants cultivated on earth. The slender trunk may be up to 25 m in height and the fan-like leaves 3-7 m long and 1 m wide with a weight of 10-15 kg. Some 20-30 leaves form the rosette crown that is typical of the coconut palm.

The ripe coconut is as large as a child’s head and has three flat sides. It is a drupe (stone fruit) and has several layers. It is enclosed on the outside by a thin, yellow-brown leathery skin with a fine wax layer, under which there lies a thicker, reddish-brown bast layer of coconut fibres. This layer encloses a stone-hard shell which contains the fruit. The latter consists of a 1-2 cm thick layer of white fruit flesh that is firmly attached to the inside of the shell. The fruit is hollow and contains a watery, sweet-tasting liquid coconut milk.
 
The coconut palm can stand high salt levels in the air; it generally grows in coastal regions where the majority of plantations are also located. In inland areas coconut palms are found mainly along rivers. Prior to plantation cultivation, the coconuts are placed in special nurseries to germinate, and are then planted out after six months. They flower when young, but do not bear fruit mature fruit for the first six to seven years. After fifteen years the palm produces an annual yield of 50-100 nuts for a period of seventy years. The fruits ripen one after the other and are harvested throughout the year. This is done either by hand, by the native population climbing the high coconut palms and cutting off the ripe fruits with a knife, or by using long sticks so that harvesting can be done from the ground.
The most important areas of cultivation and export countries are the Philippines, Indonesia, India, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Mexico and some of the islands in Oceania. A large part of the harvest is consumed within the countries of origin.
The coconuts are freed from their fibrous layer, cracked open with knife and either sun-dried or smoke-dried. This causes the white, very fatty fruit flesh to loosen from the shell. The fruit flesh is allowed to dry until it contains only 5-7 % water. In this state is called copra and can be transported over long distances without any deterioration in quality.
Coconut oil
The coconut fibres and the copra are the components with the greatest commercial significance. Coconut oil is mainly extracted from copra in the countries of origin. With a fat content of 63-70 %, 650 gr of coconut oil can be obtained from 1 kg of copra.
Coconut oil is highly saturated and solid at room temperature. The main fatty acid is lauric and the composition and use resembles that of palm kernel oil, the only other lauric oil of commercial significance. It is used in the manufacture of ice cream and margarine as well as in bakery and confectionery fillings. The oleochemical industry is using coconut oil for the fatty alcohols and soaps.
The EU imports 0.8 million tonnes of coconut oil.


Cotton
Description and Cultivation
There are thirty different bush-like species of cotton, differing from one another in terms of shape, colour and size (varying in height between 1 and 2 m). The cotton plant has one-year cycle and is modest in its requirements when it comes to soil. It is sensitive to frost, however, needing much sun and heat. The temperature should be between 25 and 27 C during the growth period.

As the flowering and maturity extend over a period of several months, harvesting must be carried out at frequent intervals. After drying the seeds are separated from the fibres by specially designed rollers.
 
Unlike many other oil plants the oil is not the most important product of the cotton plant, but merely a by-product. For 4500 years, cotton was cultivated solely for its fibres since these could be spun into yarn. The seeds were considered worthless and discarded. The oil did not come into use until some 100years ago, the first cotton plantations being cultivated in India.
The cotton bush is cultivated on all five continents, the most important regions being China, India, the USA and Pakistan. The major exporting countries of cottonseed oil are the USA and Argentina.
The extraction of cottonseed oil on a larger scale did not begin until the end of the 19th century, when machinery was designed to separate the cotton fibres from the seeds.
Cottonseed oil
Around 70 % of the harvest consists of seeds containing 20 % fat. Pressing and extraction yield the red-black, viscous cottonseed oil, which is then filtered, purified and refined. The press residue produces a protein-rich cake used as supplementary feed. Crude cottonseed oil contains gossypol, a phenolic substance, which needs to be removed in the refining process.
Cottonseed oil is a liquid oil with a high content of linoleic acid. In comparison with other liquid oils it has a high content of saturated fatty acids. Refined cottonseed oil is used in a wide variety of food applications.
0.7 million tonnes of cottonseeds are crushed in the EU, which accounts for all its production, producing 0.1 million tonnes of cottonseed oil and 0.3 million tonnes of cottonseed meal.


Groundnut
Description and Cultivation
Like the garden pea, the groundnut plant is a member of the family Leguminosae. It is an annual, herbaceous plant growing approximately 30-60 cm high, with hard, angular stalks. The flowers are brilliant yellow, develop rapidly and bloom for only a few hours. The seeds are packed in twin layers. The seedpods are yellow with a wrinkled surface, each containing 1-4 seeds the size of hazelnuts. The yellow-white nuts are enclosed in thin, red-brown shells that are easily opened when the seeds are dry and ripe. Like those of the soy bean, groundnut seeds are sown in rows in harrowed soil. Some tall varieties must be ridged like other root vegetables. During a period of 2-6 weeks the level and seeds are air-dried, which lowers their moisture content from 40 to 10 %.

The seeds will thus keep longer and are easier to shell. Groundnuts are mainly exported unshelled since the shells prevent transport damage.
Today the most important areas of cultivation are China, India, West and North Africa and the USA. The main export countries for groundnut oil are Argentina, Sudan and Senegal. The EU imports 0.5 million tonnes of groundnuts.
Groundnut oil
Groundnuts contain 40-50 % fat and 24-35 % proteins. Groundnuts are pressed to derive the oil. The protein-rich press residues are used as animal feed.
Groundnut oil has a moderate content of polyunsaturated fatty acids. It has a good heat stability and was earlier a popular frying oil.
Today, 0.1 million tonnes of groundnut oil are imported by the EU.


Linseed
Description and Cultivation
Linseed comes from the family Linaceae, Genus Linum, which includes the vast majority of the herbs and shrubs found in temperate and sub-tropical regions bordering the Mediterranean Sea. The lin/flax plant has not only been a source of fibre for linen since ancient times, but has a long history as a healing herb as well. First cultivated in Europe, the flaxseeds were crushed and used against inflamed skin and constipation.

Europe, Canada, Argentina and the United States are the main production areas.
Linseed oil
Today, one application for flaxseed oil – in this case normally called linseed oil- is as industrial oil, mainly for the paint industry. But flaxseed is renowned for its therapeutic uses as well. Flaxseeds are a rich source of lignans, substances that appear to positively affect hormone-related problems. Flaxseed oil is richer than any other vegetable oil in essential fatty acids of the n-3 family (-linoleic acid) and has a good reputation for treating a range of aliments, from heart disease to autoimmune disorders.
Other sources of-linoleic acid are rapeseed and soybean oils with approximately 10 %, whereas flaxseed oil contains up to 55 % of this fatty acid.
Whilst the oil has limitations in the animal feed market due to its amino acid make-up, the expeller meal is a valuable protein livestock feed (particularly for ruminants) and has a crude protein level of 38%. Whilst this does not compare directly with the higher protein feeds such as soybean meal, it is comparable with more direct competitors such as oilseed rape.
Refined linseed oil primarily lends itself to uses in the industrial production of paints and coatings. In combination with resins and pigments, linseed oil has long been employed as an ingredient in conventional coatings and inks. Today, there is a demand for refined linseed oil of many different grades. These are obtained by a refining process involving the steps of degumming, deacidification, and bleaching.
Linseed oil is used to make synthetic resins, especially linseed alkydes for printing inks, stand oils, and varnishes. Linseed oil is also used as a binder for pigment pastes.
Linseed stand oil of varying viscosity and acidity is obtained by polymerization at high temperatures. It is used to produce coatings of many kinds, inks, corrosion-proof and aluminum paints, and brake linings.
Blown linseed oil, thickened with air at high temperatures, exhibits excellent wettability and is therefore used in the ink industry and as a major binder in foundries and paint production.
The range of uses is so incredibly broad that even methods thousands of years old are now being revived. Linseed oil is also regaining importance as a renewable raw material.
0.5 million tonnes of linseeds where crushed in the EU, almost all imported. The production of oil was 0.2 million tonnes and 0.3 million tonnes of meal.


Maize
Description and Cultivation
Like the sunflower and the groundnut, maize was originally cultivated in America. The stout stem can be up to 3-5 cm thick and 2.5 m high. The shallow root system also forms support roots to support the heavy stem. The plan depends on wind pollination. There are different maize varieties; sweet corn, tooth, flint and puff maize, all with their own characteristics.

The most important cultivation regions are the USA, China, South America, Eastern and Southern Europe. North America produces about half the total world harvest.
 
Maize oil is a by-product from the wet or dry milling of Zea Mays, the primary product from this process being starch. Maize germs contain 30 – 40 % oil, which is obtained by pressing and extraction. Other important products from maize include starch and starch derivatives, meal and protein. Most of these are used as food ingredients and additives.
Maize oil
Maize oil has linoleic acid content of about 57 % and has a composition similar to sunflower oil. However, it has a different tocopherol composition with mainly µ-tocopherol, wich makes it more heat stable. Maize oil is used as salad and cooking oil, but also in the pharmaceutical industry and a variety of industrial applications.
The EU consumes all its production of maize oil, 0.2 million tons. In the EU the production of maize germ meal is 0.3 million tonnes.


Palm
Description and Cultivation
The oil palm is a feather palm whose trunk is 15-30 m tall. The feather can be up to 6 m long, and 40-60 of these leaves form the crown of the palm. The oil palm bears fruit from its third year, produces a full yield from its twelfth, and continues to bear fruit until it is sixty years old. An oil palm can live for up to 120 years.

The palm fruit consists of reddish-yellow, soft and fatty flesh, a hard brown shell and 2-3 fatty palm kernels (the seeds). The kernels are brown, oval between 1 and 2 cm long and have a shell that is as hard as stone.
 
The oil palm is a native of West Africa where it is found mainly along the banks of rivers. It flourishes at temperatures between 24 and 30 C, and makes no particular demands on the nature of the soil. It grows just as well in primeval forests as on riverbanks, in swamp areas, mountain rages and in poor or humid solids. In the tropical sun, with hat and high humidity, the fruits ripen continuously and can be harvested all year round.
Today more than 50 % of all commercially cultivated oil palms are found in Malaysia, where large plantations have been established for systematic cultivation. Other producing and exporting countries are Indonesia, West Africa and Brazil.
Processing
During processing the fresh fruits are sterilised with steam to prevent the flesh from spoiling, while various devices for shaking ant straining separate the fruits from the cobs.
The fruits contain two kinds of oil: palm oil from the fruit flesh and palm kernel oil from the seeds.
The fruit flesh has a fat content of approximately 40 %. To avoid quality deterioration the oil needs to be extracted within days of the harvest. Therefore the producer countries themselves extract palm oil from the fruit flesh by pressing and centrifugation. This oil is dark yellow to yellow-red, smells of violets and has a sweet taste.
Unlike palm fruits, palm kernels do not have o be further processed close to the plantation. The kernels are extremely hard and can be transported and stored without risk of any substantial quality deterioration. Nevertheless, oil production usually takes place in the country of origin.
For further processing, the kernels are dried at 60 C and opened mechanically. Then the oil is either pressed or extracted from the kernel, its oil content being approximately 50 %. After pressing the expeller cake contains approximately 3 % fat while the extraction residue contains only 0.5% fat.
Palm oil and palm oil fractions
Palm oil has a melting point of 37 C and has a higher content of saturated fatty acids than seed oil from tempered climate zones. It is very rich in palmitic acid (C-16).
Palm oil it is often processed into different fractions:
Olein, the liquid fractions, is widely used as cooking oils and for deep fat frying. Mid fractions and stearins, the solid fractions, are used as components in margarine and spreads, bakery, confectionery and many other food applications as well as some industrial applications.
Currently, 4.4 million tonnes of palm oil (crude and refined) are imported into the EU.


Palm kernel
Palmkernel oil solidifies between 20 and 24 C, is highly saturated (>80 %) and has an iodine value of 14-21. With a lauric cid (C-12) content of 48 % it belongs to the same group as coconut oil, i.e. lauric oils. Palmkernel oil is white or yellow, has a pleasant taste and smell and bears an external resemblance to coconut oil.
It is widely used in oleochemical industry (soaps, cosmetics, plastics) as well as for human consumption. The hard fraction is used as cocoa butter substitute while oil itself or the softer fraction can be used as a filling fat.

The EU imports 0.6 million tonnes of palmkernel oil and 2.9 million tonnes of palmkernel meal.


Rapeseed
Description and Cultivation
Rapeseed, also called colza, is a member of the Cruciferae family and grows to a height of 75-175 cm. It has yellow flowers, blue-green leaves and is heavily branched with deep, fibrous taproot. The seeds are small, round and black-red in colour.

What we today term rapeseed actually comprises several different varieties within the Brassica family which are very similar: Brassica napus (rapeseed) and Brassica rapa (turnip rapeseed).
 
Rapeseed is one of the oldest cultivated plants on earth, from antiquity right down until the nineteenth century; rapeseed oil was used mainly for lighting and as a lubricant, today, rapeseed oil is one of the most important vegetable oils for human consumption.
Rapeseed has become the special oil plant of Northern Europe. Large areas are cultivated in the European Union, Poland and the Czech Republic. Outside Europe the dominant producers are China, India, Canada and Australia.
Rapeseed is planted either in the autumn (winter varieties) or in the spring (summer varieties). The winter varieties have a longer vegetation period and give a better yield, but can only be grown in areas with a mild winter climate. In Europe winter rapeseed is the dominating variety, whereas in Canada only summer rapeseed is grown. The harvest period in the Northern Hemisphere starts in late July for the winter varieties, in late August or early September for the summer varieties.
The EU produces 15.2 million tonnes of rapeseeds, imports 0.1 million tonnes and exports about 0.2 million tonnes. The crushing of rapeseeds in the EU accounts for almost 13.2 million tonnes.
Rapeseed oil and meal
As the oil content of rapeseed is around 40 %, the processing is made in two steps: pre-pressing plus solvent extraction, or only by pressing.
The rapeseed meal is an important protein source in compound feed for cattle, pigs and poultry.
Rapeseed oil contains 98 % of tri-esters of fatty acids and 2 % of sterols and tocopherols. It has a uniquely low content of saturated fatty acids and a high content of monounsaturated fatty acids, offering a good balance of fatty acids: 60 % oleic, 20 % linoleic, 10 % alphalinoleic. It is also a rich source of Omega 3 and Omega 6 linolenic acids.
The low erucic variety is widely used for applications such as salad dressing, margarines and sauces. The high erucic variety is used in a range of technical purposes, for example bio-degradable lubricating oil as an alternative to mineral oil based lubricants. The use of rapeseed oil methyl esters as a substitute for diesel fuel takes large volumes of rapeseed oil.
Rapeseed meal, with only 37 % protein content can hardly substitute soymeal in animal feeding. They represent 7 % of the vegetable meals consumed in Europe and can enter feed ratios in the proportion of maximum 15 % for chickens and 20 % for porks and milk cows.
The situation for rapeseed oil in the EU is in equilibrium with a production and consumption of 5.5 million tonnes. The EU production of rapeseed meal rises 7.6 million tonnes.


Sesame
Description and Cultivation
Sesame seed is believed to be one of the oldest seeds to have been used as a condiment, as well as for the home-based production of oil. Sesame oil is a traditional cooking oil with a long history, which is mainly cultivated in India and china but also in Sudan and neighbouring countries and in parts of Central America (e.g. Mexico).

It is derived from the seeds of the sesame plant which is mainly cultivated in tropical and sub-tropical areas with a dry and a rainy season. It requires a lot of water in order to grow and ripen and a dry season during the harvesting. It is an annual plant, growing on average between 50 to 250 cm high and is rich in flowers.
 
Ideal growing temperatures lie between 27 and 30°C. Harvesting is done by hand, with the plants being cut manually and dried in the field. They are then shaken so that the seeds fall out of the open pods. The harvesting period in the Northern Hemisphere is between October and December and, in the Southern Hemisphere, March. The largest producers in Asia are China and India; in Africa it is Sudan followed by Nigeria while, in Central America, it is Mexico and Guatemala.
Sesame seed is used mainly for human consumption on bread, bread sticks, cookies, health snacks (such as sesame bars), in prepared breakfasts (as an additive to cereal mixes) or on breakfast crackers.
Sesame oil
Sesame oil has an unsaponifiable fraction with a unique composition. Sesamolin and sesamin may be found in concentrations up to 1 – 1.5 %. They are reported to give a high oxidation stability, especially at elevated temperatures. Concentrates of these or straight sesame oil have been used as an additive to increase the oxidation stability in frying oils.
Sesame oil is also mainly used for human consumption but a small percentage is used in the soap, cosmetic and skin care industries. The market for sesame oil is mainly located in Asia and the Middle East where the use of domestically produced sesame oil has been a tradition for centuries.
Oriental sesame oil has a dark colour and characteristic, nutty odour, which is developed by roasting the seeds before extracting the oil.


Soybean
Description and Cultivation
The soybean is an annual crop that belongs to the nitrogen-fixing leguminous plants and exists in a large number of forms and varieties. The plant is approximately 50 cm in height, and the soybeans are found in pods containing 2-4 bans. The beans vary in size and shape, and may be round or oval according to the variety. The colour varies from yellow to green. A thin shell surrounds the bean.

The soybean is considered one of the oldest cultivated plants on earth. Increased demand for economical sources of protein for animal feed has increased the importance of the soybean. At the beginning of the twentieth century, cultivation started on a large scale. The USA, Brazil, Argentina and China are the dominant producers.
 
The harvest starts when the soybean ripens, which occurs with the shedding of the leaves. Harvesting usually begins in September in the Northern Hemisphere.
Today, the EU produces only the 5 % of the soybean it crushes; the remaining 95 % is imported, representing 15 million tonnes.
Soybean oil and meal
In order to derive the products, soybeans are normally extracted without the pre-pressing step. The meal content in the soybean is 80 %, oil 19.5 % and lecithin 0.5 %.
Soybean oil is the world most used vegetable oil for edible applications. It has a naturally light colour and little flavour; hence it is mainly used in applications like baking fats, mayonnaise, frying oil, salad and cooking oils, as an ingredient in margarine and other edible uses. Besides food applications, soybeans oil is also used by the chemical and technical industry in applications like varnish and lacquer.
Soybean oil is rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids and low in saturated fatty acids. The five major fatty acids in soybean oil are palmitate, stearate, oleate, and linolenate.
The meal is mainly used for animal feed. In addition, protein concentrates from soybean meal are important food ingredients. Lecithin (phospholipids) is another important product derived from soybeans. Its main use is as a lubricant as well as an emulsifier in the food, feed and pharmaceutical industries.
The EU produces 2.6 million tonnes of soybean oil, exports 0.4 million tonnes and consumes 2.3 million tonnes. As for meals, 33.7 million tonnes of soybean meal are consumed, of which 11 million tonnes are produced in the EU and 23.2 million tonnes are imported (0.6 are re-exported).


Sunflower
Description and Cultivation
The sunflower is an annual crop belonging to the family Compositae. From the small seed grows a thick, pithy, rigid stem with large, heart-shaped leaves. The stem grows to a height of 2-4 m, the inflorescence having a diameter of 15-50 com. The wedge-shaped receptacle bears the sexless edge and tongue flowers from which the fruits, up to 2000 sunflower seeds, develop.

The fruits consist of shells and seeds, which are nut-like and called shell fruits. Seed shell and fruit shell are fused together. There are large, small and oblong seeds which, depending on variety, may be black, dark brown, grey-brown, beige or striped. So far, some 55 different varieties have been identified. As soon as the undersides of the flower clusters turn yellow and the first seeds are shed the harvest begins, either by hand o with the aid of combines.
Like potatoes and maize, the sunflower comes from tropical Central and South America and was taken to Europe by Spanish explorers in the 16th century. Sunflower became very popular as a cultivated plant in the 18th century.
The sunflower needs sunny and very warm summer months with very dry conditions during the ripening of the seeds. Russia is the biggest sunflower producer, followed by the Eastern European countries, Argentina and the European Union.
2.7 million tonnes of sunflower seeds are produced in the EU and 1.6 million are imported. The main exporters of sunflower seed oil are Argentina, the US and Eastern Europe. The EU crushes 4 million tonnes of sunflower seeds.
Sunflower oil and meal
The fat content of ripe sunflower seeds fluctuates between 30 and 45 %. Rushing, pressing and extraction are the methods normally used to derive the oil. Sunflower meal is used for animal feed. Limited amounts of sunflower lecithin are used as food emulsifiers.
Sunflower oil is generally considered a premium oil because of its high level of unsaturated fatty acids (typically 90% of oleic and linoleic acids) and lack of linoleic acid. It is best suited for use at low temperatures e.g. in sauces, dressings, margarines or as a salad oil.
The sunflower oil situation is more or less in equilibrium in the EU, with a consumption of 2.4 million tonnes. The EU also imports sunflower meal (2 million tonnes), to be added to the home production of 2.1 million tonnes.



Home page • Sitemap
 
Copyright • Disclaimer