The industrial oil extraction process has not changed much for
the last few decades, although there have been some technical
developments in optimization and better control. The conventional
procedure for sunflower oil extraction involves seed preparation,
mechanical extraction (in which a press cake or oilcake containing
16e24% of oil is obtained after continuous pressing), and afinal
stage which is the solvent extraction from ground oilcakes or
expanded material, known as“collets”(porous cylinders obtained
from pressed sunflower cakes by expanding).