Sunflower Seed
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Nuts and Seeds
Sunflower Seed
Latin:
Helianthus annuus
Origin:
The seed of the plant Helianthus annuus L., of the family Compositae. Sunflower is native to western North America, it is the only important crop to have evolved within the present confines of the United States. Sunflowers were cultivated and used for cooking by Native Americans. Sunflower oil is a popular all-purpose cooking oil. Early introduced to Europe and Russia, the species has now spread to countries both tropical and temperate, cultivated primarily for the seeds which yield the world's second most important source of edible oil. Argentina, Russia, Ukraine, France, the United States, and China are the leading producers of sunflower seed.
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The common sunflower is an annual herb with a rough hairy stem 1━4.5 m high, broad, coarsely toothed, rough leaves 7.5━30 cm long, and heads of flowers 7.5━15 cm wide in wild specimens and often 0.3 m or more in cultivated types. The disk flowers are brown, yellow, white or purple. The oval hairy leaves are arranged in spirals.
The Helianthus genus to which the sunflower belongs contains over 100 species, but only two varieties are generally used for human consumption: the small Russian variety, which is used mostly to produce oil, and the large non-oily North American variety, which is used as a food.
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Sunflower crop matures about 4 months from sowing; some Russian species mature in 70 days. Harvest when involucral bracts turn yellow and seeds become loose, but before shedding begins. Harvesting methods are similar to those of corn: heads are gathered, dried, and threshed. For fodder or silage, crop is harvested at the flowering stage.
The sunflower plant is valuable from an economic as well as from an ornamental point of view. The seeds contain oil and are used for food. Sunflower oil cake is used for stock and poultry feeding. The oil is also used in soap and paints and as a lubricant. The seeds may be eaten dried or roasted.
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Sunflower oil is used for cooking, margarine, salad dressings, lubrication, soaps, and illumination. A semi-drying oil, it is used with linseed and other drying oils in paints and varnishes. The seed oil is either cold- or hot-pressed. Cold-pressed oil is usually pale yellow, with a mild taste and pleasant odor, much esteemed as a salad and cooking oil, especially for butter substitutes. Hot-pressed oil is reddish yellow and is used for technical purposes and as a burning oil. With modern methods, hot-pressed oil may be refined for edible purposes.
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Decorticated press-cake is used as a high protein food for livestock. Kernels eaten by humans raw, roasted and salted, or made into flour. Poultry and cage birds are fond of raw kernels. Flowers yield a yellow dye. Plants used for fodder, silage and green-manure crop. Hulls provide filler in livestock feeds and bedding.
Sunflower seeds are available year-round.
In traditional Chinese medicine, the seed dish, flower and stem of sunflower are all used for medicinal purposes.
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Sunflower seeds are nicknamed "sunnies."
See also Food, Flowers and Tea, Sunflower.
Properties:
Sweet in flavor, warm and mild in nature.
Functions:
Reinforces the spleen, moisturizes the intestinal tract, subdues endogenous wind due to excessive function of liver, eliminates evil heat, arrests dysentery and treats boils.
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Applications:
Sunflower seed is used to treat constipation due to dryness of the intestinal tract, dysentery with pus and blood in the stool, unulcerated carbuncle and swelling.
1. For bloody dysentery (severe diarrhea):
Take 50 g sunflower seeds. Add 500 ml water and boil for 1 hour. Add some rock sugar and drink the solution.
2. For measles:
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Crush the nuts from sunflower seeds. Add boiling water and consume. May be repeated for another dose the same day and the next day.
3. For ringing ears:
Pound 30 g sunflower seeds. Add some rock sugar and boil with slow fire for 30 minutes. Drink the whole solution twice a day.
Dosage and Administration:
To be eaten parched, cooked, or dccocted for oral use; it is to be pounded for external application, or extracted to get its oil for application to the affected part.
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Raw sunflower seeds have a better effect of promoting pus drainage, so they should be eaten cooked.
Hulled sunflower seeds, sometimes called kernels, are a good addition to many sweet and savory dishes, including breads, cookies, cakes, pilafs, salads, stuffing, and vegetable and grain dishes. They are sold in the shell as a protein-rich snack food. Sunflower seeds can also be ground into a paste to make a nutritious spread.
Available shelled or unshelled, raw or roasted, sunflower seeds turn rancid quickly. Avoid shelled seeds that appear yellowish in color. Unshelled sunflower seeds may be stored in a cool, dry place. Shelled sunflower seeds should be kept in an airtight container in the refrigerator or freezer, where they will keep for several months.
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Cautions on Use:
The growing plant can accumulate nitrates, especially when fed on artificial fertilizers. The pollen or plant extracts may cause allergic reactions.
Reference Materials:
Toxic or Side Effects:
Modern Researches:
Sunflower seed contains water, protein, fat, carbohydrate, fibre, ash, calcium, phosphorus, iron, sodium, potassium, vitamins A and C, thiamine, riboflavin, and niacin.
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The oil from sunflower seeds contains 5O percent of fatty oil (mainly linoleic acid, phospholipid, sitosterol, etc.), soluble monosaccharide, diose, trisaccharide, organic acid (such as citric acid, tartaric acid, chlorogenic acid, quinic acid), and carotene, phytine, 3,4-benzopyrene (its content is greatest in the shell).
The flowering head and seeds are febrifuge, nutritive and stomachic. The seed is also considered to be diuretic and expectorant. It has been used with success in the treatment of many pulmonary complaints.
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Animal experiments reveal that the oil from sunflower seeds prevents hyperlipidemia (the presence of excess fat or lipids in the blood) and hypercholesterolemia (the presence of excess cholesterol in the blood), though experiments in man with its crude oil may result in a temporary rise of blood cholesterol.
A tea made from the leaves is astringent, diuretic and expectorant, it is used in the treatment of high fevers. The crushed leaves are used as a poultice on sores, swellings, snakebites and spider bites.
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A tea made from the flowers is used in the treatment of malaria and lung ailments.
A decoction of the roots has been used as a warm wash on rheumatic aches and pains.
An edible semi-drying oil is obtained from the seed. Some varieties contain up to 45 percent oil. The oil is also used to make soap, candles, varnishes, paint, etc., as well as for lighting and is said to be unrivalled as a lubricant.
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A blotting paper is made from the seed receptacles.
A high quality writing paper is made from the inner stalk.
The pith of the stems is one of the lightest substances known, having a specific gravity of 0.028. It has a wide range of applications, being used for purposes such as making life-saving appliances and slides for microscopes.
The dried stems make an excellent fuel, the ash is rich in potassium. Both the dried stems and the empty seed receptacles are an excellent kindling.
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A fibre from the stem is used to make paper and a fine quality cloth.
A yellow dye is obtained from the flowers.
A purple-black dye is obtained from the seed of certain varieties that were grown by the Hopi Indians of S.W. North America.
Sunflowers can be grown as a spring-sown green manure, they produce a good bulk of material.
Root secretions from the plant can inhibit the growth of nearby plants., http://www.100md.com