Brassica oils species content

Interest in the Brassicaceae as an oilseed for industrial oils uses has largely been as a consequence of erucic acid content in the oil and the high protein meal left over after oil extraction (Robbelen, 1991) Several Brassica oilseed species including B. carinata, B. juncea, B. nigra, B. napus (oilseed rape/ rapeseed) and B. rapa naturally produce seed oil with medium-to-high erucic acid content and medium-to-high protein meal after oil extraction (Downey and Robbelen, 1989). Erucic acid content in the seed oil of these species. 

The frequency of genes for the absence of erucic acid in rape, turnip rape, and other closely related species appears to be very low. If seed oils low in erucic acid content were available within leaf mustard (Brassica juncea) this species, now grown for edible oil in India and China, could become an edible oil crop in other countries. Efforts to find genes for the absence of erucic acid in this species have been under way for a number of years in several countries, and individual plants from 8. juncea which produce seed oils essentially free from erucic acid have been isolated recently (Kirk and Oram, 1981). 

The relationship between the six brassica species has been described by Downey et al., (1975). Commercially grown high-erucic acid rape and mustard seed oil are similar in composition and are characterized by their high erucic acid content (McPherson, 1978 Tsunoda era/., 1980). 

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