Rapeseed (Brassica Napus) is an oilseed producing flowering plant belonging to the same plant family as cabbage, mustard, turnips and broccoli (Brassicacae).The rapeseed crop is cultivated mainly for its oil seed and is the third largest source of vegetable oil worldwide after soybean and palm.
Traditional rapeseed varieties contain high levels of erucic acid and goitrogenic glucosinolates (pungency) and are known as high erucic acid rapeseed (HEAR). Because of these erucic acid and glucosinolates levels traditional rapeseed cultivars are of limited use for human or animal consumption.
In Canada, during the 1960s and 1970s, low erucic acid rapeseed (LEAR) cultivars were developed through artificial selection a.k.a. selective breeding. LEAR rapeseed cultivars became known under their licensed trademark name ‘Canola’, which is a condensation of the ‘Canada’ combined with ‘Oil, low acid‘. In some countries LEAR rapeseed varieties are known as ‘Double Zero’ or ‘Canola Quality’ while other regions continue using the term ‘rape’ or ‘rapeseed’ for all varieties.
Uses for Canola/Rapeseed
Food:
- Animal Feed
- Cooking & salad oil
- Margarine & shortening
Industrial applications:
- Bio-diesel
- Cosmetics
- Detergent and soaps
- Fertilizers
- Lubricants, greases and hydraulic fluids
- Pharmaceutical compounds
Canada is the largest producer of rapeseed with an average 17M metric tons (tonnes) produced between 2009-2019.
