Basic Information - Genetics, Genomics and Breeding of Crop Plants - page 8

increased by 24% or 5 million metric tons between 1993 and 2003, sunflower
seed production declined in terms of market share of the five major oilseeds
during the same period (Kleingartner 2004).
Sunflower production in Argentina had the highest yield, 2.03 Mt/ha,
in 2005 ( Table 1-1 ) . The lowest yield was in India with 0.63 Mt/ha. The
largest producer of sunflower, the Russian Federation, averaged 1.19 Mt/
ha, while the Ukraine averaged 1.27 Mt/ha. Yield of sunflower from other
areas of the world averaged 0.95 Mt/ha, much lower than several of the
major sunflower production areas where sunflower is highly managed for
maximum yield.

Table 1-1 World sunflower area, production, and yield for 2005 (USDA 2007).

Country Area harvested Production Yield

(Million Ha) (Million Mt) (Mt /Ha)

Argentina 1.89 3.84 2.03

China 1.05 1.83 1.74

European Union 3.60 6.02 1.67

Other European 0.41 0.68 1.66

India 2.34 1.49 0.63

Russian Federation 5.40 6.44 1.19

Ukraine 3.69 4.71 1.27

United States 1.05 1.72 1.63

Turkey 0.57 0.78 1.36

Other 2.94 2.79 0.95

Total 22.94 30.30 Mean = 1.32

1.2.2 Nutritional Information

1.2.2.1 Oil and Oil Quality

Sunflower derives most of its economic value from the extracted oil, with the
remaining value from the meal. The achenes of oilseed sunflower are usually
black. The oil extracted from the achenes accounts for about 80% of the total
value of the oilseed sunflower crop (Fick and Miller 1997). Oil content
depends on both the percentage of hull and the oil concentration in the
kernel. Hull percentage among genotypes may range from 10-60%, while
oil content in the kernel may range from 260-720 g/kg. Hull percentages of
achenes and oil content in the kernels of present high oil cultivars or hybrids
are in the range of 20-25% and 570-670 g/kg, respectively (Miller and Fick
1997). Most oilseed hybrids have a whole achene oil content of 400-500 g/kg.
Sunflower oil is premium oil due to its high unsaturated linoleic fatty acid
concentration, low linolenic acid content, the absence of significant toxic
compounds, and its excellent nutritional properties. Linoleic acid is an
essential fatty acid not synthesized by humans, and is the precursor of
gamma-linolenic and arachidonic acids (Dorrell and Vick 1997).