The sunflower (Helianthus annuss L.) is a plant native to North America that owes much of its value to its extensive travels geographically, genetically and nutritionally. With the return of explorers from their adventures to the new world, sunflowers were carried back as specimen and curiosity. From this seed stock, selection and agronomic application in Europe and Western Asia has led to the progenitor of the modern oilseed sunflower we have today.
The next big leap in sunflower history occurred in the 1950s when it became a viable commercial oilseed around the world, helped in part by modern agricultural mechanization. Today, of the 26.4 million metric tons of oilseed sunflowers, more than half are produced by a pan-global group of countries like Russia, Ukraine, Argentina, China and Romania (FAO, 2004).
