Organic sunflower seeds can be enjoyed raw or lightly toasted. They make a great snack and can be sprinkled into salads, stir-fries, muesli or on breakfast cereal. They are also a delightful addition to baking, especially cakes, muffins and biscuits. Sunflower seeds are highly nutritious. With sunflower seeds, you can also make sunflower butter, a tasty nutritious spread.

To make sunflower butter place 1 cup of organic sunflowers into a food processor, blend for 5 mins or so until you have a fine powder. Then, add a good quality oil (olive oil, or almond oil),  1 tablespoon at a time until you have a texture similar to peanut butter (you will need 2-3 tablespoons of oil). You can add a little sea salt to taste or even a sweetener like Agave or Honey.

Why are (our) organic sunflower seeds heat treated?

We are not always able to source Australian Organic Sunflower Seeds. When we can they are not heat treated. However, most organic sunflower seeds are imported as the demand for these in Australia is much more than is grown here. More often than not we also range Australia Sunflower Seeds, however these are not organic.

Australian Quarantine require imported sunflower kernels be treated to devitalize the seed. Sunflower plants germinated from imported viable sunflower kernels have been assessed as posing a significant risk of leading to the transfer (via insects from plant to plant) of the plant disease “sunflower downy mildew” by AQIS.  If we eliminate the ability of the sunflower kernel to germinate and grow into a plant, this risk is eliminated.

There are 2 acceptable means of devitalizing sunflower seeds in accordance with AQIS standards;

Option 1. Moist heat treatment

Option 2. Fumigation with methyl bromide

Option 2 would never be acceptable for organic foods which is why they are treated via moist heat treatment. They do taste ever so slightly toasted.

How to toast sunflower seeds

Simply place in a heavy base saucepan & toss for 1-2 minutes over medium heat until they become a golden colour. Transfer to a cool plate immediately.

Storage

Always store sunflower seeds in a cool, dry sealed container away from light.

 

Origin - China
Certification - BCS