Oilseed crop sunflower (Helianthus annuus) as a source of food: Nutritional and health benefits

Abstract

The use of biofertilizers in developing environmentally friendly agriculture as an alternative to chemical‐based fertilizers in enhancing food production is promising in sustainable agriculture for the improvement in the yield of some commercial crops such as sunflowers and other oilseed crops in terms of quality and quantity. Sunflower is an important oilseed crop native to South America and currently cultivated throughout the world. Generally, the sunflower is considered important based on its nutritional and medicinal value. Due to its beneficial health effects, sunflower has been recognized as functional foods or nutraceutical, although not yet fully harnessed. Sunflower contains mineral elements and phytochemicals such as dietary fiber, manganese, vitamins, tocopherols, phytosterols, triterpene glycosides, α‐tocopherol, glutathione reductase, flavonoids, phenolic acids, carotenoids, peptides, chlorogenic acid, caffeic acid, alkaloids, tannins, and saponins; and these compounds contribute to their functional and nutraceutical development. The extract from sunflower is known to be a potential source of antimicrobial, anti‐inflammatory, antitumor, and antioxidants agents that protect human cells against harmful reactive oxygen molecules and pathogenic microorganisms. Also, the pharmacological survey on sunflower had revealed its curative power to different kinds of diseases. The health benefits of sunflower include blood pressure and diabetic control, skin protection, and lowering cholesterol and other functions. This review is written with appropriate referencing to previously published work and provides updated information regarding the new method of organic farming for sunflower production, nutritional and health benefits, and its by‐products as human diet and livestock feed. Also, the constraints of sunflower production are elucidated.

Genomic Analysis of Endophytic Bacillus cereus T4S and Its Plant Growth-Promoting Traits

“…Agricultural practices such as tillage, crop rotation, and fertilizer application contribute to food production, reduce pest re-insurgence, and plant-pathogen attack [ 3 ]. This has also ensured the availability of quantity and quality of food products for human beings [ 4 ]. However, the incessant use of agrochemicals by farmers to recover the essential nutrient loss in the soil for crop improvement has continually harmed the environment [ 5 , 6 ].…”

Plant Disease Management: Leveraging on the Plant-Microbe-Soil Interface in the Biorational Use of Organic Amendments

“…Humans need to eat well for sustainable health living. Conversely, the challenge of food safety and security occurs as a result of the inefficiency of farm input, farm practices including disease and insect pest infestation ravaging farm crops resulting in low yields (Dubey et al, 2019;Adeleke and Babalola, 2020b). Thus, it is imperative to boost agricultural production using up-to-date technology and human involvement along the food production value chain.…”

Extraction, Radical Scavenging Activities, and Chemical Composition Identification of Flavonoids from Sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) Receptacles

“…Sunflower is commercially grown all over the world, especially has the higher production in China, Argentina, Russia and France. At present, the research on sunflower mainly focused on seeds [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ]. However, sunflower receptacles have not been researched as popularly as seeds.…”