Main aspects of sunflower production in Brazil

Abstract

Sunflower is one of the most important oilseed crops in the world, since its grains have high oil content (38% to 50%), primarily used for the production of high quality oil. The production of sunflower increases the supply of protein meal for animal feeding, which enables the increase of protein production, more specifically meat, eggs and milk. Grain production systems in Brazil have peculiarities, since two to three different crops are grown in a special arrangement, in the same area and year. Notwithstanding the small cultivated area in Brazil of 62.3 thousand hectares, sunflower is used in succession or rotation with other grain crops such as soybean or maize, showing an enormous potential for expansion and can be cultivated from latitudes 33°S to 5°N, especially in the Brazilian Cerrado biome. Sunflower cultivation in succession to soybean as a second summer crop can also reduce environmental impacts because of the more efficient usage of production factors, such as land and sharing of agricultural inputs, machinery, infrastructure and workforce. The success of establishing the sunflower is associated with the adequate management of soil fertility, use of cultivars adapted to different environments, plant arrangement, seed quality and adequate phytosanitary management, among other factors. It also needs strategic actions, planning and, long-term research and technology diffusion.

Sunflower oil from enzymatic aqueous extraction process: Maximization of free oil yield and oil characterization

“…The moisture content of the sunflower seeds was 4.0% ± 0.10. In reports in the literature, the moisture content of sunflower seeds varies in the range of 5–10% (Castro & Leite, ). Campbell et al () used sunflower seeds with a moisture content of 9.0% ± 0.1 to perform the enzymatic extraction of oil.…”

“…Sunflower ( Helianthus annus L.) is an oleaginous plant that is widely cultivated due to its adaptability to different soils and climatic conditions (Castro & Leite, ; Latif & Anwar, ; Ribeiro et al, ). In 2017, world production was approximately 47 million tons, with the main producers being Ukraine, Russia, and Argentina (FAO, ).…”

“…Sunflower oil is the main product obtained from the sunflower crop, with the seeds containing around 38–50% (dry mass) of oil (Rai, Mohanty, & Bhargava, ). It is used in a wide range of products in the pharmaceutical, chemical, cosmetic, food, and biodiesel production industries (Castro & Leite, ; Kumar et al, ; Latif & Anwar, ; Sánchez‐Muniz, Bastida, & Benedí, ). In addition, the defatted meal resulting from the extraction process can be used as animal feed, because it contains high levels of protein (Seiler & Gulya, ).…”

“…Sunflower oil is among the five vegetable oils with highest production levels in the world (Castro & Leite, ; Sánchez‐Muniz et al, ; Seiler & Gulya, ). This oil consists predominantly of unsaturated fatty acids (77–82%), comprised of 50–70% linoleic acid (González‐Pérez & Vereijken, ; Latif & Anwar, ; Rai et al, ).…”

Agri-Food Chain Establishment as a Means to Increase Sustainability in Food Systems: Lessons from Sunflower in Brazil

“…Research topics include the analysis of the operation of national sunflower agri-food chains [15], the description of sunflower production in Brazil [11], a life-cycle assessment of the soybean-sunflower cropping system in MT [14], the analysis of sunflower genotypes' performance at different sowing dates in MT [20], the identification of nematode-resistant sunflower genotypes adapted to the tropical region of Brazil [13], the evaluation of agronomic characteristics of sunflower genotypes cultivated over different regions of the country [21][22][23][24], the analysis of technical characteristics of sunflower oils originated from several genotypes [25,26], and the investigation of the relationship between sunflower productivity and soil´s chemical properties in MT [27]. Nevertheless, to date, no investigation has been conducted to understand the underlying reasons for the rapid development of sunflower sector in MT.…”