Rapeseed history

Rapeseed has become an important crop in the temperate zones of the world, with production in more than 30 countries on 5 continents. The productive capacity of the crop and the nutritive value of its protein have made rapeseed a leading potential source of food and feed protein ingredients. Oilseed rapeseed was grown in India over 3000 years ago, and at least 2000 years ago in China and Japan. It is not clear when rapeseed oil became a food oil in addition to its use as a fuel for lamp lighting and for soap and candles. Throughout most of the long history of this crop, the cake or meal was used as a fertilizer or soil conditioner, a practice that persists today in China and Japan (5). 

It has a long history of human use in the Orient, dating back to 1000 b.c. Until 1938, China was the world s principal producer supplying 2.5 million tonnes of the world s approximately 4 million tonnes output of rapeseed and mustard (Editorial, 1981). Since 1945, production and use has greatly increased in the Western World, especially in Canada and Europe. In Canada for example, the value of the crop has grown from zero in the early 1940s to the billion dollar level in 1981. Canadian rapeseed is now not only an important source of food and feed but is also a major export crop, second only to wheat. 

For the earlier detailed history of production and trade in rapeseed from 1934 to 1970, the reader is referred to an excellent review by Ohison (1972). 

The earliest beginnings of rapeseed cultivation are shrouded in the mists of antiquity its early history is not well documented. Plants of the species grown in Canada undoubtedly made their first impression on early agriculture as weeds. Domestication occurred whenever the economic value of locally grown weeds was recognized. 

The History and Marketing of Rapeseed Oil in Canada B. First Commercial Production... 

CHD can be prevented to some extent by controlling risk factors. Hypertension and plasma cholesterol are both affected by the diet. Advice to patients with a family history of coronary heart disease would include suggesting a cholesterol check, and, depending on the results, reducing saturated fat intake to around 8—10 per cent of the diet. Omega-3 poljomsaturated FAs (found in seafoods and rapeseed oils) should be increased in the diet since they lower LDL-cholesterol. Monounsaturated fats (in olive oil) should also be increased, but total fat should not exceed 30 per cent of the dietary intake. Hjrpertension can be reduced by restricting salt intake (19). 

Gupta, S.K., Pratap, A., 2007. History, origin and evolution. Rapeseed breeding. In Advances in Botanical Research, vol. 45. Elsevier Ltd, New York, pp. 1-21. 

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