The sunflower oil is produced out of the well-known sunflower seeds which contain 40-65% oil. The main cultivation regions are South Eastern Europe, the USA, Argentina and France.
The first sunflowers (Helianthus anus) were brought from North America to Europe in 1596. Interestingly, the flower heads of the sunflower, follow the daily movement of the sun (Heliotropism). A Russian village farmer first had the idea of extracting oil from sunflower seeds through pressing. And so began an important oil milling industry. The cultivation farming of sunflowers has increased enormously in Europe.
