Part 2 of Sunflower Facts......
Most people know sunflowers that are bright yellow with dark brown centers, but varieties are cropping up (a little pun there!) now which have orange, maroon, tan and even striped petals, and green-yellow centres. Some don't even have the center seedy covered disc, but they are completely covered with petals all over instead. (I personally don't think of these as sunflowers, but a mutant blend that someone has come up with! Give me the yellow and brown, and I'm a happy girl!)
Sunflowers are a member of the "Astor" family.
Most sunflowers are grown for the seeds and oil they produce. Each mature flower yields 40% of its weight as oil. This oil is used for cooking mostly, but is now being looked into for fuel. It is being studied as a biological source of hydrogen for potential use in biofuels. And we all know about eating sunflower seeds! The salty covered treats we ate as kids, where that was one of only a few times your mother let you spit something out of your mouth, when you had to get rid of the shell....the other I can think of is watermelon seeds..... Somehow, being a girl, and being able to spit was a big deal for me!
In 2006, the Lays Company began frying its entire line of potato chips and snacks in NuSun brand sunflower oil, cutting saturated fat by 50 percent. This was and is good news for all of us! I smile when I see the sunflower on the "Lays" bags of chips.
More to come...................
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