Sunflower is the most important summer crop both in con
ventional and organic farms of central Italy, characterized by clayeysoils and dry summers. Due to its deep rooting system, sunflower is
able to make efficient use of natural resources such as soil moisture
and soil nitrogen, thus representing a valuable crop for bioenergy
production systems. The crop has a moderate auxiliary input
requirement and an economic profitability given that it provides
raw materials used in a number of food and oil-based non-food
industrial sectors. At present, there are three categories of sun
flower varieties: standard or high-linoleic (48e74% C18:2 n-6,9),
high-oleic (75e91% C18:1 n-9) and a more recent intermediate type
namely mid-oleic or NuSun (43e72% C18:1 n-9)[14]. High-oleic
hybrids have shown to yield stable high-quality oil and therefore
can be considered particularly promising for biofuel production