Iranian Scientists Indigenize Technology to Produce, Flavore Sunflower Seeds

“In our company stationed at Marand Science and Technology Park, we have succeeded in indigenizing the sunflower seed processing device and delivered a healthy and new product to the market without essential oils,” Mohammad Reza Samadi, the managing director of the company, told ANA.

Noting that some companies add essential oils to sunflower seeds that are harmful to the human body, he said, “Sunflower has many properties, and by adding healthy extracts to it, without damaging the outside part of the sunflower seed, its kernel can be flavored.”

“By inventing the device and using nanotechnology, we inject an extract inside the seed without damaging the shell of the sunflower seed and use extracts of cinnamon, rosehip, etc. depending on the taste of the people,” Samadi said.

Earlier, an Iranian company active in the field of nanotechnology succeeded in producing vegetable fat that can help lower the level of bad cholesterol in the human body.

Raheleh Amiri, an associate professor at the Islamic Azad University, Central Tehran branch, referred to the product as “plant sterol”, saying that sterol is a vegetable fat, the active ingredient of which is obtained from plant seeds such as flax, sesame, sunflower, and soybean.

She explained that the substance was converted to nanoscale materials through a process without the presence of any chemical compounds and using only natural materials.

“When the material turns to the nanoscale, the level of absorption and diffusion coefficient increases, while it creates a more desirable taste.”

She went on to say that the product then turns into an emulsion to be used. For example, the obtained sterol can be used in skin creams or in dairy products such as milk and yogurt.

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