🌻 Sunflower oil

Sunflower oil is a vegetable oil made from sunflower seeds (Helianthus annuus). The sunflower itself comes from North America: genetic studies show that it was domesticated once, in the east of the continent. Today it is one of the world’s main oils: the USDA estimates output in the 2025/26 season at 21.1 million tonnes — roughly seven times more than olive oil (3.3 million tonnes).

Ukraine is one of the two largest producers. According to the USDA, it was the world’s top producer from 2012/13 to 2020/21 and the top exporter until 2024/25. In 2023/24 Ukraine accounted for 30.5% of world production and 40.8% of exports. Other major producers include the European Union, Argentina, Kazakhstan and Türkiye.

The fatty acids in the oil depend on the sunflower variety. The Codex Alimentarius standard distinguishes ordinary oil, dominated by linoleic acid (45–74%), mid-oleic oil and high-oleic oil with at least 75% oleic acid, which brings it closer to olive oil. Unrefined cold-pressed oil is extracted mechanically only, without heat. 100 g of the oil contains 884 kcal and about 41 mg of vitamin E — three times as much as olive oil (14 mg), according to the USDA.

For frying, what counts is the fatty acids, not the smoke point. In a 2021 study at 175 °C, ordinary sunflower oil reached the 25% limit of polar compounds by the 9th frying, high-oleic oil only by the 17th–18th, and olive pomace oil by the 15th–21st. Although sunflower oil starts smoking later (around 230 °C against 190–194 °C), that does not make it more stable.

Why it matters to you. If you fry often, look for the words "high-oleic" on the bottle's label. The EU allows the claim that replacing saturated fats with unsaturated ones helps maintain normal cholesterol levels, and ordinary sunflower oil meets the conditions for it. According to USDA FoodKeeper, unopened oil keeps for up to a year, and an opened bottle is best used within a few months.