Sunflower was domesticated about 4-5 thousand years ago. The industrial processing of sunflower seeds for oil in Russia began in the second quarter of the 19th century. Sunflower oil contains a lot of unsaturated fats and comes in different types, including refined and unrefined. There are some differences between the two, but both oils can be part of a healthy diet.
Sunflower oil can be refined and unrefined. The differences between them are in the aroma, taste, and concentration of certain substances, such as vitamin E.
Sunflower oil is one of the most important vegetable oils. The product is used for frying food and salad dressing. The oil serves as a raw material for the production of margarine and cooking fats obtained by hydrogenation. In the food industry, the product is used in the manufacture of snacks such as potato chips and French fries. Sunflower seed paste is used in cooking as an alternative to peanut paste.
PEG-10 glycerides of sunflower oil, derivatives of mono- and diglycerides with an average number of moles of ethylene oxide equal to 10, are used in the cosmetics industry. These substances are used in formulations of cosmetics as surfactants and emulsifying components.
In the pharmaceutical industry, purified sunflower oil is used as an auxiliary substance in the production of oral dosage forms. The oil is used as a solvent for poorly water-soluble active pharmaceutical ingredients and as a component of soft gelatin capsules and regular capsules.
When lecithin is obtained from sunflower oil by phospholipid extraction, the product is used in the food industry as an emulsifier E322 for the production of chocolate, margarine, bakery and confectionery products. PEG-alkyl glycerides of vegetable oils have the ability to enhance the transdermal permeability of medicinal substances.
For technical purposes, the oil is used to lubricate bearings and precision bushings, as well as as fuel for kerosene lamps. Due to its good dielectric properties, the oil was used in the insulation of transformers and voltage multipliers over 100 kilovolts. The product finds its use even as a component of diesel fuel, although the increased viscosity in the cold creates certain difficulties.