Sunflowers and Ukraine.🌻Cool stuff!
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I’ll admit I didn’t know much about Ukraine. So I dug in to learn more.
Let’s call this my version of Ukraine 101, or Ukraine for dummies.
Ukraine’s national flower, the sunflower, is being planted everywhere this spring.
Who is the largest exporter of sunflower oil? You guessed it, Ukraine.
The oil is used as medicine. Sunflower oil is used for constipation and lowering “bad” LDL cholesterol. Some people apply sunflower oil directly to the skin for poorly healing wounds, skin injuries, psoriasis, and arthritis; and as a massage oil. In foods, sunflower oil is used as a cooking oil.
Sunflowers are a natural treasure. Not only visually but up to 2000 seeds can be obtained from a single sunflower, which is cold-pressed to produce valuable, light yellow sunflower oil.
Sunflower oil also contains a lot of vitamin E, which has an antioxidant. Sunflower oil can be used for cooking, frying, refining sauces, and as a salad dressing.
So many things are used in the creation of or contain this oil. Potato chips, granola, pretzels, and so on. If it tastes yummy or was fried, you may be getting some sunflower oil.
Why Sunflowers Are Ukraine’s National Flower
People around the world are embracing up and coming bloom as a symbol of solidarity in the country in 2022. The season is coming.
Annual sunflowers bloom during summer and into autumn. So new plants every few weeks and you’ll enjoy non-stop flowers until the first frost. Perennial sunflowers bloom for a period of 8–12 weeks with some beginning as early as July and others finishing as late as October.
Ukraine was the leading sunflower seed oil-exporting country with an export volume of about 5.27 million metric tons.
SWITCHING GEARS, LET’S TALK ABOUT SIZE…
I found this map and thought it gave some perspective.
