Glucosinolates, definition

The Dutch-Danish 1991 philosophy paper highlighted that the Codex definition of a contaminant does not include inherent natural toxins (e.g. the glucosinolates and phycotoxins), since these substances are present in food as a result of the metabolic processes in the organism. It was then decided to have the GSCTF also to include such toxins, as they may in many ways be similar to contaminants. Many toxins are at least as toxic to humans as most contaminants, and they may also cause problems in international trade.10 It was also recommended and agreed by the CCFAC that the GSCTF should be based upon a horizontal approach, i.e. covering the important contaminants in all relevant foods, and that the MLs should be set as low as reasonably achievable - the ALARA principle. 

The name canola was registered by the Western Canadian Oilseed Cmshers in 1978 and subsequently transferred to the Canola Council of Canada in 1980. It included those cultivars containing less than 5% emcic acid in the oil and 3 mg/g aliphatic glucosinolates in the meal. In 1986, the definition of canola was amended to B. napus and B. rapa lines with less than 2% emcic acid in the oil and less than 30 pmol/g glucosinolates in the air-dried, oil-free meal. The oil was added to the Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) list of food products in the United States. 

Two small but distinctive groups of natural products found in higher plants which show a clear and definite relationship to their biosynthetic precursors, the a-L-amino acids, are the cyanogenic glycosides (128)162,163 jjjg mustard oil glucosides or glucosinolates... 

In canola, the most important fatty acids are oleic acid (C18 l), a-linolenic acid (ALA, C18 3), erucic acid and the sum of the total saturated fatty acids. Canola is often referred as a double low rapeseed, low in total glucosinolate—<30 pmol/g oil-free solid dry basis, and low erucic acid—<2% (http //canolacouncil.org/canola the offlcial deflnition.aspx). To ensure that the seeds conform to the definition of canola, it is important to analyse the erucic acid content. Nowadays monthly monitoring of Canadian canola exports showed that erucic acid content is weU below the 2% mark, in fact, the erucic acid content average was below 0.15%. Canola oil has been modified in response to industry demand for an oil that allows deep-frying. It was necessary to develop an oil more stable to oxidation, to allow the high deep-frying temperatures. Low a-linolenic acid canola (LowLin) was developed. The new varieties could be grouped into low a-linolenic acid (below 5%) with an oleic acid content of around 65%, or into very low a-linolenic add (below 3%) with a content... 

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