。 In the 16th and 17th centuries, the word sunflower was borrowed from the Latin flos solis. The French, Italian, and Spanish names for sunflowers, tournesol, girasol, and girasol, like the Chinese names, are also based on the characteristic "sun".

Sunflowers were introduced to China around the time of the Ming Dynasty, and the earliest known document to record sunflowers is the Ming Dynasty Wang Xiangjin's Qunfang Spectrum (1621).

There is no "sunflower" in the book, only in the "flower spectrum three * chrysanthemum" attached to the "zhang chrysanthemum", the original text is as follows: "zhang chrysanthemum - the name of the chrysanthemum - the name of the sunflower, the stem is long and long, the stalk is as thick as bamboo, the leaves are hemp, many straight, although there are branches, only a flower is as big as a pan, the single-petal color yellow heart is made like a beehive, to the autumn gradually purple black and firm, take its children are very easy to give birth, the flower is poisonous and abortion."

The name "Xiangri" can be found in Wen Zhenheng's "Chronicles of Long Things" (around 1635).

In 1820, Xie Fang said in "Flowers and Trees" that sunflowers are everywhere, both ornamental and edible.

This species is one of several plants cultivated by Native Americans in prehistoric North America and was part of the eastern agricultural complex. Although it is generally accepted that sunflower was first domesticated in what is now the southeastern United States, about 5,000 years ago, there is evidence that it was first domesticated in Mexico in 2600 BC. The crops were found at the San Andres excavation site in Tabasco, Mexico. The earliest known example of a fully domesticated sunflower in the United States has been found in Tennessee and dates back to around 2300 BC. Other very early examples come from rocky sites in eastern Kentucky. Many Indigenous Americans used the sunflower as a symbol of their sun god, including the Aztecs and Otomi in Mexico and the Incas in South America. Sunflowers are a common crop among Indian tribes throughout North America. There is evidence that this plant was cultivated by American Indians around 3000 BC in the area of present-day Arizona and New Mexico. Some archaeologists believe that sunflowers may have been domesticated before corn. [2]

In 1510, early Spanish explorers encountered sunflowers in the Americas and shipped their seeds back to Europe. Of the four plants known to have been domesticated on the eastern continent of the United States today, the sunflower is currently the most economically important plant.

In the 18th century, the use of sunflower oil became very popular in Russia, especially among members of the Russian Orthodox Church, because according to some fasting traditions, sunflower oil was one of the few oils allowed during Lent. In the early 19th century, it was first commercialized in the village of Alexeyevka in the Voronezh province by the merchant Daniil Bokaryov, who developed a technique suitable for large-scale exploitation, which spread rapidly. Since then, the coat of arms of the town has contained the image of a sunflower.

Wild sunflowers are native to North America, but the commercialization of the plant took place in Russia. It was not until modern times that the sunflower plant returned to North America as a cultivated crop. However, the American Indians first domesticated the plant into a single-headed plant, and the seeds came in a variety of colors, including black, white, red, and black with white stripes. [2]

This exotic North American plant was brought to Europe by Spanish explorers around 1500. The plant is widely spread in present-day Western Europe, primarily as an ornamental plant, but some medicinal uses have been developed. By 1716, a British patent was granted the right to squeeze oil from sunflower seeds.

Sunflowers became very popular as a cultivated plant in the 18th century. Most of the credit goes to Peter the Great of Russia. The plant was originally used as an ornamental plant, but by 1769 the literature mentioned that it was possible to produce sunflowers for growing edible oil. By 1830, the production of sunflower oil was carried out on a commercial scale. The Russian Orthodox Church has increased the popularity of sunflower oil by prohibiting the consumption of most edible oils during Lent. Because sunflower oil is not on the prohibition list, it is immediately welcomed as a food.

By the beginning of the 19th century, Russian farmers were growing more than 2 million acres of sunflowers. During this period, two specific types were identified: the type of oil used for edible oil production and the two major types used for direct human consumption. The government research program was implemented. V. S. Pustovott S. Pustovoit) carried out a very successful breeding program in Krasnodar, which led to a significant increase in the content and yield of edible oil. The world's most prestigious sunflower science prize is known as the Pustovoit Award.

By the end of the 19th century, Russian sunflower seeds entered the United States. By 1880, seed companies advertised "Mammoth Russian" sunflower seeds in their catalogs. This particular seed name was still available in the United States in 1970, almost 100 years later. The source of this seed movement that spread to North America may have been brought by Russian immigrants. In the United States, the first commercial use of the sunflower crop was for silage for poultry. In 1926, the Missouri Sunflower Growers Association of the United States participated in the first process of processing sunflower seeds into oil.

Canada began its first official government sunflower breeding program in 1930. The basic plant breeding material used comes from Mennonite (immigrants from Russia) gardens. Due to the demand for edible oil, the acreage spreads. By 1946, Canadian farmers had built a small crushing plant. The acreage also spread to Minnesota and North Dakota in the United States. In 1964, the Canadian government authorized the cultivation of the Russian variety "Peredovik", which has a high yield and high oil content. The increased acreage in the United States has commercial benefits for the production of sunflower oil. The hybridization technology of sunflower in the mid-70s of the 20th century provided additional yield and enhancement of edible oils as well as disease resistance.

Due to strong demand for sunflower oil in Europe, the cultivated area in the United States was upgraded to more than 5 million hectares in the late 70s of the 20th century. Russian exports of sunflower oil over the past few decades have stimulated this European demand. During this period, animal fats such as tallow, which is used for cooking, are negatively affected by cholesterol issues. However, the Russians are unable to meet the growing demand, and European companies are also eyeing emerging American industries. Europeans import sunflower seeds, which are then crushed in factories in Europe. To this day, Western Europe is still a large consumer of sunflower oil, but depending on its own production. The United States exports sunflower oil to Europe. [2]