Rapeseed oil

The name for rapeseed comes from the Latin word rapum meaning turnip. Turnip, rutabaga (swede), cabbage, Brussels sprouts, and mustard are related to rapeseed. Rapeseed belongs to the genus Brassica. Brassica oilseed varieties are some of the oldest plants cultivated by humanity, with documentation of its use in India 4,000 years ago, and use in China and Japan 2,000 years ago.[8]^: 55 Its use in Northern Europe for oil lamps is documented to the 13th century.[8] Rapeseed oil extracts were first put on the market in 1956–1957 as food products, but these suffered from several unacceptable characteristics. Rapeseed oil had a distinctive taste and a greenish colour, due to the presence of chlorophyll. It also contained a high concentration of erucic acid.[9]

Canola was bred from rapeseed cultivars of B. napus and B. rapa at the University of Manitoba, Canada, by Keith Downey and Baldur R. Stefansson in the early 1970s,[10][11] having then a different nutritional profile than present-day oil in addition to much less erucic acid.[12] Canola was originally a trademark name of the Rapeseed Association of Canada, and the name was a condensation of "Can" from Canada and "OLA" meaning "Oil, low acid",[13][14] but is now a generic term for edible varieties of rapeseed oil in North America and Australasia.[15] The change in name serves to distinguish it from natural rapeseed oil, which has much higher erucic acid content.[16]

A genetically engineered rapeseed that is tolerant to the herbicide Roundup (glyphosate) was first introduced to Canada in 1995 (Roundup Ready). A genetically modified variety developed in 1998 is considered to be the most disease- and drought-resistant canola variety to date. In 2009, 90% of the Canadian crop was herbicide-tolerant.[17] In 2005, 87% of the canola grown in the US was genetically modified.[18] In 2011, out of the 31 million hectares of canola grown worldwide, 8.2 million (26%) were genetically modified.[19]

A 2010 study conducted in North Dakota found glyphosate- or glufosinate-resistance transgenes in 80% of wild natural rapeseed plants, and a few plants that were resistant to both herbicides. This may reduce the effectiveness of the herbicide tolerance trait for weed control over time, as the weed species could also become tolerant to the herbicide. However, one of the researchers agrees that "feral populations could have become established after trucks carrying cultivated GM seeds spilled some of their load during transportation". She also notes that the GM canola results they found may have been biased as they only sampled along roadsides.[20]

Genetically modified canola attracts a price penalty compared to non-GM canola; in Western Australia, it is estimated to be 7.2% on average.[21]

Rapeseed oil production – 2019[22]

Country	millions of tonnes
Canada	4.2
China	3.1
India	2.5
France	1.7
World total	24.4

Canola field in Manitoba, Canada

In 2019, world production of rapeseed oil was 24 million tonnes, led by Canada, China, and India as the largest producers, accounting together for 40% of the world total.[22] Canada was the world's largest exporter of rapeseed oil in 2019, shipping 3.2 million tonnes or approximately 76% of its total production.[22]

The benchmark price for worldwide canola trade is the ICE Futures Canada (formerly Winnipeg Commodity Exchange) canola futures contract.[23]

In China, rapeseed meal is mostly used as a soil fertilizer rather than for animal feed,[24] while canola is used mainly for frying food. In the words of one observer, "China has a vegetable oil supply shortage of 20 million tonnes per year. It covers a large percentage of that shortage with soybean imports from Brazil, the U.S. and Argentina."[25]

Canola oil

Canola oil is made at a processing facility by slightly heating and then crushing the seed.[34] Almost all commercial canola oil is then extracted using hexane solvent,[35] which is recovered at the end of processing. Finally, the canola oil is refined using water precipitation and organic acid to remove gums and free fatty acids, filtering to remove color, and deodorizing using steam distillation.[34] Sometimes the oil is also bleached for a lighter color.[36] The average density of canola oil is 0.92 g/ml (7.7 lb/US gal; 9.2 lb/imp gal).[37]

Cold-pressed and expeller-pressed canola oil are also produced on a more limited basis. About 44% of a seed is oil, with the remainder as a canola meal used for animal feed.[34] About 23 kg (51 lb) of canola seed makes 10 L (2.64 US gal) of canola oil. Canola oil is a key ingredient in many foods. Its reputation as a healthful oil has created high demand in markets around the world,[38] and overall it is the third-most widely consumed vegetable oil, after soybean oil and palm oil.[39]

The oil has many non-food uses and, like soybean oil, is often used interchangeably with non-renewable petroleum-based oils in products,[38] including industrial lubricants, biodiesel, candles, lipsticks, and newspaper inks.

Canola vegetable oils certified as organic are required to be from non-GMO rapeseed.[40]

Canola oil is considered safe for human consumption,[41][42] and has a relatively low amount of saturated fat, a substantial amount of monounsaturated fat, with roughly a 2:1 mono- to polyunsaturated fats ratio.[43]

In 2006, canola oil was given a qualified health claim by the United States Food and Drug Administration for lowering the risk of coronary heart disease, resulting from its significant content of unsaturated fats; the allowed claim for food labels states:[44]

"Limited and not conclusive scientific evidence suggests that eating about 1 1⁄2 tablespoons (19 grams) of canola oil daily may reduce the risk of coronary heart disease due to the unsaturated fat content in canola oil. To achieve this possible benefit, canola oil is to replace a similar amount of saturated fat and not increase the total number of calories you eat in a day. One serving of this product contains [x] grams of canola oil."

A 2013 review, sponsored by the Canola Council of Canada and the U.S. Canola Association, concluded there was a substantial reduction in total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, and an increase in tocopherol levels and improved insulin sensitivity, compared with other sources of dietary fat.[43] A 2014 review of health effects from consuming plant oils rich in alpha-linolenic acid, including canola, stated that there was moderate benefit for lower risk of cardiovascular diseases, bone fractures, and type-2 diabetes.[45]

A 2019 review of randomized clinical trials found that canola oil consumption reduces total cholesterol (TC) and LDL compared to sunflower oil and saturated fat.[46] Consumption of canola oil has been shown to reduce body weight when compared with saturated fat.[47]

Regarding individual components, canola oil is low in saturated fat and contains both omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids in a ratio of 2:1. It is high in monounsaturated fats, which may decrease the risk of heart disease.[48]

Apart from its use for human consumption, rapeseed oil is extensively used as a lubricant for machinery. It was widely used in European domestic lighting before the advent of coal (city) gas or kerosene. It was the preferred oil for train pot lamps, and was used for lighting railway coaches in the United Kingdom before gas lighting, and later electric lighting, were adopted. Burned in a Carcel lamp, it was part of the definition of the French standard measure for illumination, the carcel, for most of the nineteenth century. In lighthouses, for example in early Canada, rapeseed oil was used before the introduction of mineral oil. Rapeseed oil was used with the Argand burner because it was cheaper than whale oil.[92] Rapeseed oil was burned to a limited extent in the Confederacy during the American Civil War.[93]

Rapeseed oil was used in Gombault's Caustic Balsam,[94] a popular horse and human liniment at the turn of the 20th century.

Among the more unusual applications of rapeseed oil is the calming of choppy seas, where the oil modifies the surface tension of the water and rapidly smooths the surface. For this purpose, rapeseed oil was carried in ship's lifeboats.[95]

In 1981, there was an oil poisoning outbreak, later known as toxic oil syndrome[102] that was attributed to people consuming what they thought was olive oil but turned out to be rapeseed cooking oil that had been denatured with 2% aniline (phenylamine). The substance was intended for industrial use but had been adulterated and illegally sold as olive oil, mainly in street markets, mostly in the Madrid area.[103][104]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Rapeseed oil.

• List of canola diseases
• Triangle of U

• O'Brien, Richard D. (2008). Fats and Oils Formulating and Processing for Applications (3rd ed.). CRC Press. ISBN 9781420061666. Retrieved 18 April 2020.