Oilseed flax

Charlet K, Baley C, Morvan C, Jemot JP, Gomina M, Breard J (2007) Characteristics of Hermes flax fibres as a function of their location in the stem and properties of the derived unidirectional composites. Compos Part A Appl Sci 38(8) 1912-1921 Charlton B, Ehrensing D (2001) Eiber and oilseed flax performance 2001 Annual Report. Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, USA, pp 36-40... 

Flax cultivars have been selected for production of either fiber (fiber flax) or oil (oilseed flax). Location of production, climatic adaptation, and morphology of these types now differ considerably. Oilseed-type plants are usually shorter, have more branches, and produce more seeds, while fiber flax types are generally taller, have few branches, and have been seleeted for fiber (Gill, 1987). Bast fibers from flax, derived as part of the phloem, are long (4em), have high tensile strength, and have a high quality of cellulose (Deyholos, 2006). Fine flax fibers are used for linens and textiles, while coarser fibers are used for nonwoven textiles and twine. Both flax types have a short tap root system with fibrous branches. Flax is relatively shallow rooted, with only 4-7% of root mass deeper than 60 cm (Gan et al., 2009). 

Irvine, R.B., McConnell, J., Lafond, G.P., May, W.E., Hultgreen, G., Ulrich, A., Stonehouse, K., Chalmers, S., Stevenson, F.C., 2010. Impact of production practices on fiber yield of oilseed flax under Canadian prairie conditions. Can. J. Plant Sci. 90, 61-70. 

Selvaraj, G., R. K. Jain, D. J. Olson, R. Hirji, S. Jana, and L. R. Hogge. Glycinebetaine in oilseed rape and flax leaves detection by liquid chromatog-raphy/continuous flow secondary ion-mass spectrometry. Phytochemistry 1995 38(5) 1143-1146. 

Results for lipid content depends very much on the source material and the protocol used. Thus, oilseeds such as mustard, canola, and flax may contain 38% to 42% lipid, while starch may contain <1% total lipid. The content of lipids in meat and seafoods may vary from I % to 30%. Nutmeg contains 25% to 30% lipids. 

The major protein sources used in animal production are oilseed meals. Their use in poultry diets was reviewed by Ravindran and Blair (1992). Soybeans, groundnuts, canola and sunflowers are grown primarily for their seeds, which produce oils for human consumption and industrial uses. Cottonseed is a by-product of cotton production, and its oil is widely used for food and other purposes. In the past linseed (flax) was grown to provide fibre for linen cloth production. The invention of the cotton gin made cotton more available for clothing materials and the demand for linen cloth decreased. Production of linseed is now directed mainly to industrial oil production. Thus, soybean is clearly the predominant oilseed produced in the world. 

Flax is grown mainly to produce linseed oil for industrial applications, Western Canada, China and India being leading producers. Other important areas of production are the Northern Plains of the USA (Maddock et al., 2005), Argentina, the former USSR and Uruguay. Flax is grown typically under dryland conditions. In Canada, flax is produced only as an industrial oilseed crop and not for textile use as in some countries. 

Uses herbicide for post-emergence control of wild oats in wheat, barley, broad beans, field beans, soybeans, peas, sugar beet, flax, lucerne, lentils, mustard, oilseed rape, sunflowers, etc. 

Uses herbicide to control post-emergent wild oats, wild millets, and other annual grass weeds in wheat, barley, rye, red fescue, and broadleaf weeds in crops such as soybeans, sugar cane, fodder beet, flax, legumes, oilseed rape, sunflowers, clover, lucerne, groundnuts, brassicas, carrots, celery, beet root, parsnips, lettuce, spinach, potatoes, tomatoes, fennel, alliums, herbs, etc. 

Many species in the Europhorbiaceae and Labiatae families produce seeds with a high content of oil and contribution of hnolenic acid of up to 76% (1). Flaxseed has been used for years in the production of paints, varnishes, inks, and linoleum. In food applications, flaxseed is more often used than oil because of its better stability and because of the presence of fiber, lignans, and a-linolenic acid (ALA), which have health benefits. Cold pressed flaxseed oil is not considered suitable for deep-frying, although Chinese use it in stir-frying (2). In this chapter, oilseeds of flax, perilla, camelina, and chia are discussed as sources of oils with elevated content of ALA. These oilseeds are produced in industrial quantities and can be considered as potential sources of new oils with specific nutritional and functional properties. 

Cool temperatures during the 10-25 days after flowering are the main cause for higher amounts of linolenic acid in flax oils (14). For the same reason, flaxseed grown in the Canadian prairies, northern latimde, produce oils with higher levels of polyunsaturated fatty acids and lower contributions of oleic acid and samrated fatty acids. This phenomenon was also observed for other oilseeds such as sunflower, canola, and soybean (7, 13, 14). Similarly, a wide variation in fatty acid composition in Australian flaxseed samples was observed 13-25% of 18 1 and 46-64% of 18 3 (6). 

The new oilseed crop is grown wherever flax and linseed varieties are currently cultivated (35, 36). The climate in northern Europe is highly suitable for production of Linola, where sunflower and com/maize cannot be produced. Linola seed can be processed by existing crushing plants using similar processing parameters. Linola meal is used for ruminant feed in the same way as linseed meal. 

Flax is a sub-tropical or cool-to-warm temperature annual crop grown mainly in Canada, Argentina, India, the US, China, some European countries, and the former USSR. More than 60 years ago the world production of flaxseed was around 3.4 million tonnes (Krawczyk 1999) which was more than sunflower oil at 2.5 million tonnes. Since then, however, world production of flaxseed has remained between 2 and 3 million tonnes, while the production of other oilseeds has increased considerably. In 2000-2001, world production of flaxseed was 2.34 million tonnes, with Canada the largest producer and largest exporter. Figures for the production, disappearance and exports/imports of linseed oil are given in Chapter 1. 

Haumann, B.F. (1990) Low-linolenic flax Variation on familiar oilseed. INFORM, 1,934-941,944-945. 

Tolerant broad-leaved crops are carrot, clover, cotton, field beans, flax, linseed, alfalfa, oilseed rape, peas, potatoes, soybean, strawberries, sugar beet, sunflower, tobacco and vines. Its mode of action is similar to that of fenoxaprop-ethyl. 

Camelina sativa, usually known in English as gold-of-pleasure or false flax, also occasionally linseed dodder and Siberian oilseed, is a flowering plant in the family brassicaceae, which also includes rapeseed. The crop is now being... 

Ehrensing D (2008) Oilseed crop flax. Publication No EM 8952-E Oregon State University Extension Service, OR, USA, 9 pp... 

Traditionally, oilseed cultures are grown for conversion into oil or oilcake on the one side and for textile uses like cotton or flax on the other. The whole plant chemistry... 

Antioxidative compounds from oilseeds such as canola/rapeseed, mustard, flax, borage and evening primrose, soybean, cottonseed, peanut and sesame have been investigated. The antioxidative conq)onents present are diverse and may end up in the extracted oil or in their resultant meal after oil extraction. The antioxidative compounds present include tocopherols, sterols, phospholipids, phenolic acids and phenylpropanoids, flavonoids and isoflavonoids, hydrolyzable and condensed tannins, lignans, coumarins, amino acids, peptides and proteins as well as carotenoids (7). 

A wide variety of crop selective compounds has been discovered within this class of compounds. The sulfonylurea herbicides shown in Table 1 are used in wheat, barley, oats, soybeans, rice, com, and oilseed rape (canola), with socialized uses in flax, peanuts, and pasture grasses. In addition, analogs with significant selectivity to sugarbeets, cotton, and other crops have been noted in greenhouse studies at Du Pont. 

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