Sunflower seeds & sunflower seed kernels

Sunflower seeds! How about some sunflower seed? Sunflower seeds can be found either as in-shell or shelled as sunflower seed kernels or meats. Sunflower seed may be consumed raw or roasted and salted, toasted, baked, etc. as a snack. Anyway you prefer sunflower seeds, they are -like pumpkin seeds- a delicious snack food, well-suited to a healthy diet and nutrition.

Greek sunflower seeds are famous for their great taste, big size, long shape and black and white stripes. Due to their long shape they can be very easily cracked open to extract the sunflower seed kernel.

Sunflower seeds are shelled and the kernels are used in a variety of products, such as bread, pies, cereals, salads and even sweets.

In-shell sunflower seeds, when roasted and salted, can be a delicious and nutritious snack. Roasted and salted sunflower seeds are particularly popular as a snack food in Greece, Turkey and to a lesser extent in Spain, Italy, in the coutries of Central America and elsewhere.

All varieties of sunflower seeds for human consumption are processed and exported by Antonio foods.

The most popular varieties are:

• Greek type (long, big)
• American type (short, small)

In-shell raw sunflower seeds are usually offered in bulk packaging (e.g. 20kg bags) to sunflower seeds roasters, as well as to food distributors, brokers, importers and wholesalers. Other packaging can also be arranged according to the requirements of the customer.

In-shell roasted and salted sunflower seeds are offered in the following packaging (of course other packaging is also possible upon customer request):

It is well known that sunflower seeds are one of the most nutritious and healthy foods to be found in the dried fruits sector. This is due to their high content of unsaturated fatty acids. Analysis data indicate that from the total acids about 70% are polyunsaturated, 20% monounsaturated and only 10% saturated. It should be noted here that unsaturated fatty acids are beneficial to the human organism and essential for proper nutrition. Furthermore, sunflower seeds do not contain any cholesterol at all, being meanwhile rich in proteins and fibers.

Sunflower seeds may be regarded as a health food of no or minimal processing (e.g. roasting), well-suited for a properly balanced diet. Generally, dried fruits, nuts and seeds are placed at the middle of the food guide pyramid.