HELIANTHUS ANNUUS
SUNFLOWERS are native to many temperate zones around the world. In North America, their seeds have formed a significant part of the diet of Native Americans for about the last 3,000 years. Who eats these seeds eats well. And the top sunflower seed munchers, oil pressers, and growers in the world are the Russians. In fact, sunflower seed oil is the cooking oil of choice in that country. More importantly for Americans, they have thankfully replaced chewing tobacco among most baseball players.
THE ORGANIC FACTOR
Few insects attack sunflowers, which are native to North America and which coevolved with the native pests, and so they are relatively easy to grow organically. A rich, organic soil helps, and these plants can grow to giant sizes with seed heads more than a foot across.
NUTRITION
A 1-ounce handful of sunflower seed packs a whopping 76 percent of your daily requirement of vitamin E—the antioxidant vitamin that helps prevent the build-up of arterial plaque. It also contains 25 percent of the copper you need, 20 percent of the pantothenic acid, plus good stores of folate (especially important during pregnancy), vitamin B6, iron, and zinc.
TYPES
Many of the open pollinated types—that is, the kinds that come true to type when their seeds are planted—are used for hulled seed (seed with their hulls removed) and for birdseed. The seeds of hybrid varieties, on the other hand, produce plants with a grab bag of genetic traits pulled from the hybrid’s parents, and therefore aren’t true to the type of plant that produced them. Most sunflowers develop a single large head atop a tall stalk, but there are multiheaded and short-stature varieties. Oilseed sunflowers have small black seeds that can be up to almost 50 percent oil.
Seeds sold in their hulls and used for snacking are called confectionery sunflower seed. Sunflowers are rarely sold by variety name, but you could ask growers if they have any of the following high quality varieties. Hybrid types include SIGCO SL70, Sunseed, Sunbred 254, and the popular Sun 891. Open-pollinated types of high quality in-clude Giganteus, Grey Stripe, Mammoth Russian, and Sunspot.
SUNFLOWER OIL
Sunflower seeds are about 20 percent high quality protein and 20 to nearly 50 percent oil, mostly polyunsaturated linoleic acid, although monounsaturated oleic acid—the kind that makes olive oil so beneficial—is also present; in some new varieties, such as SIGCO SL70, oleic acid is predominant, up to 70 percent of the total oil. This extends shelf life of such seeds tremendously, as oleic acid is much more stable than linoleic. Oilseed types include the high-oil varieties called Peredovik and Rostov.
WHAT TO LOOK FOR
Organic sunflower seeds are sold, hulled and loose in bins, at most organic food stores. They’re inexpensive and full of nutrition. Look for snack seeds that indicate high oleic acid content on the package, because oleic acid is the type of monounsaturated fat that improves the blood cholesterol and triglyceride levels, leading to improved cardiovascular health. Unfortunately, sellers don’t ordinarily label seeds with their variety names.
USES
In addition to eating them out of hand, lightly toasted sunflower seeds can be used in breads, pastries, muffins, and cookies to give a chewy texture and nutty flavor.
To toast sunflower seeds
Place the seeds in a single layer on a cookie sheet in a 350°F oven for 5 to 7 minutes, until they brown slightly and acquire a fine toasty, nutty flavor.
Sprinkle them on salads, on vegetables such as cauliflower, or coat cheese balls with them.
Sunflower seeds make wonderful sprouts. The oilseed types are preferred for sprouting, but any sunflower can be used as long as the seed is organic. ....read more
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