Rapeseed description

DESCRIPTION Low erucic acid rapeseed oil (synonyms low erucic acid turnip rape oil low erucic acid colza oil) is produced from the low erucic acid oil-bearing seeds of varieties derived from the Brassica napus L., Brassica campestris L. species. 

The magnitude of the variation in the composition of rapeseed oil and meal now commercially available has created a need for new terms to describe the products derived from rapeseed. The fatty acid composition of most edible vegetable oils such as soybean, sunflower, or cottonseed oils, varies within narrow limits. Thus, the species or commodity name (e.g., soybean oil) provides a reasonable description of the fatty add composition of soybean oil. In contrast, the erucic acid content of commercially available rapeseed oil may vary from near zero to 55%, and the oleic acid from 10 to more than 60%. A number of terms have been proposed or utilized to describe the new rapeseed oil whose fatty acid composition has been altered by the elimination of erucic acid these include low erucic acid rape-seed oil (LEAR), canbra, and canola. Similar terms such as high erucic acid rapeseed oil (HEAR) and common or traditional rapeseed oil have been used to describe rapeseed oil whose fatty acid composition includes substantial amounts of erucic acid. 

Description, Glucosinolates in Rapeseeds. Wathdst, J.-P., Ed. Analytical Aiqiects Martinus Niihoff Dordrecht 1987.13 pp 59-75. 

Downey, R.K. (1983) The origin and description of the Brassica oilseed crops, in High and Low Erucic Acid Rapeseed Oils, eds. J.K.G. Kramer, F.D. Sauer and W.J. Pigden, Academic Press, New York, pp. 1-20. 

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