Sunflower meal

Brief Overview

Is one of protein source for animal feed. It is by-product of sunflower oil industry. It has been produced by crushing sunflower seed for oil. The nutrient content of SFM will be different depending on several factors. The differences of SFM nutrient happened due to oil content in material, Processing methode, and efficiency of oil extraction. There are two method for extracting oil of the sunflower. Solvent method to extract the sunflower will be resulted higher concentrations of protein and lower concentrations of oil and fiber compared with mechanical process.

SFM is an excellent livestock feed, especially for ruminants since it have slow degraded protein which important for ruminants. SFM can be provided nitrogen required by rumen microbes in the rumen.

Manufacturing Process

The manufacturing of sunflower meal includes 3 major steps, dehulling, oil extraction, and conditioning. Dehulling process is conducted after cleaning the seeds and drying them down to 5% moisture, which facilitates kernel-hull separation. Then the sunflower is winnowed to separate the hulls from the kernels. Once winnowed, the kernels undergo mechanical pressing through screw-presses (expellers), resulting in a "cake" containing 15-20% of oil. Fresh sunflower meal must be dried for optimal storage. It can be ground, broken into small pieces or pelletized, for easier handling and storage by adding a suitable binder such as molasses or fats under high pressure in an pelletizer or extruder.

Animal Feed Industry

The product is a good protein source for growing and finishing cattle due to lower price compared to soybean meal. SFM can be substitude soybean meal in ruminan feed. It is also applicable for swine if containing lower fiber. SFM contains high Methionine which is important for animal prodcuction and reproduction