Canola

For the inventor of the harp in Celtic mythology, see Canola (mythology).

Canola refers to both an edible oil (also known as canola oil) produced from the seed of any of several varieties of the Brassicaceae family of plants, and to those plants, namely a cultivar of Brassica napus L., Brassica rapa subsp. oleifera, syn. B. campestris L. or Brassica juncea. To be called canola, it must contain less than 2% erucic acid and less than 30 micromoles glucosinolates.

Consumption of the oil is common and is claimed not only to be completely safe for human and animal consumption, but also to be among the healthiest of plant-derived oils, having relatively low amount of saturated fat with high content of polyunsaturated fats. It is also used as a source of biodiesel.

Etymology

The name "canola" was chosen by the board of the Rapeseed Association of Canada in the 1970s. The "Can" part stands for Canada and "ola" refers to oil. However, a number of sources, including The Free Dictionary, continue to claim it stands for "Can(ada)+o(il)+l(ow)+a(cid). The name was coined partially to euphemize the name of rapeseed oil, to avoid the negative connotations of rape as a violent sex crime, from the Latin "rapere".

History

Close-up of rapeseed blooms

Canola flower

Canola field in New South Wales, Australia

Canola was developed through conventional plant breeding from rapeseed, an oilseed plant already used in ancient civilization as a fuel. The word "rape" in rapeseed comes from the Latin word rapum meaning turnip. Turnip, rutabaga, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, mustard, and many other vegetables are related to the two natural canola varieties commonly grown, which are cultivars of B. napus and B. rapa. The change in name serves to distinguish it from natural rapeseed oil, which has much higher erucic acid content.

Brassica oilseed varieties are some of the oldest plants cultivated by humanity, with documentation of its use in India 4,000 years ago, and use in China and Japan 2,000 years ago. Its use in Northern Europe for oil lamps is documented to the 13th century. Its use was limited until the development of steam power, when machinists found rapeseed oil clung to water- and steam-washed metal surfaces better than other lubricants. World War II caused high demand for the oil as a lubricant for the rapidly increasing number of steam engines in naval and merchant ships. When the war blocked European and Asian sources of rapeseed oil, a critical shortage developed, and Canada began to expand its limited rapeseed production.

After the war, demand declined sharply, and farmers began to look for other uses for the plant and its products. Rapeseed oil extracts were first put on the market in 1956–1957 as food products, but these suffered from several unacceptable characteristics. Rapeseed oil had a distinctive taste and a disagreeable greenish color, due to the presence of chlorophyll. It also contained a high concentration of erucic acid. Experiments on animals have pointed to the possibility that erucic acid, consumed in large quantities, may cause heart damage, although Indian researchers have published findings that call into question these conclusions and the implication that the consumption of mustard or rapeseed oil is dangerous. Feed meal from the rapeseed plant also was not particularly appealing to livestock, because of high levels of sharp-tasting compounds called glucosinolates.

Canola was bred from rapeseed at the University of Manitoba, Canada, by Keith Downey and Baldur R. Stefansson in the early 1970s, having then a different nutritional profile than present-day oil in addition to much less erucic acid.

A variety developed in 1998 is considered to be the most disease- and drought-resistant canola variety to date. This and other recent varieties have been produced using genetic engineering. In 2011, 26% of the acres sown were genetically modified (biotech) canola.

Canola was originally a trademark, but is now a generic term for edible varieties of rapeseed oil in North America and Australia. In Canada, an official definition of canola is codified in Canadian law.

Production and trade

Canola being grown in South Africa just outside the City of Cape Town. Table Mountain is clearly visible in the far right. Canola is a relatively new crop in the country and was first cultivated in the early 1990s.

As of the 2013/2014 season, production in the ten leading territories was:

Country	Production (1000 MT)
European Union	21,102
Canada	17,960
China	14,458
India	7,300
Australia	3,760
Ukraine	2,352
Russia	1,393
United States	1,004
Belarus	676
Pakistan	320
Kazakhstan	242

The main price discovery mechanism for worldwide canola trade is the ICE Futures Canada (formerly Winnipeg Commodity Exchange) canola futures contract. Rapeseed is traded on the Euronext exchange.

Canola oil

Bottle of canola cooking oil

Canola oil is made at a processing facility by slightly heating and then crushing the seed. Almost all commercial canola oil is then extracted using hexane, which is recovered at the end of processing. Finally, the canola oil is refined using water precipitation and organic acid to remove gums and free fatty acids, filtering to remove color, and deodorizing using steam distillation. Cold-pressed and expeller-pressed canola oil are also produced on a more limited basis. About 43% of a seed is oil; the remainder is a canola meal that is used as animal feed. About 23 kg (51 lb) of canola seed makes 10 L (2.64 US gal) of canola oil. Canola oil is a key ingredient in many foods. Its reputation as a healthy oil has created high demand in markets around the world, and overall it is the third-most widely consumed vegetable oil.

The oil has many nonfood uses and, like soybean oil, is often used interchangeably with non-renewable petroleum-based oils in products, including industrial lubricants, biofuels, candles, lipsticks, and newspaper inks depending on the price on the spot market. Canola oil is also recommended by the American Society for Reproductive Medicine for use as a vaginal lubrication.

The average density of canola oil is 0.92 g/ml.

Health information

A review in 2013 of health effects of canola oil came to overall favorable results, including a substantial reduction in total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, and an increase in tocopherol levels and improved insulin sensitivity, compared with other sources of dietary fat.

Compound	Family	% of total
Oleic acid	ω-9	61%
Linoleic acid	ω-6	21%
Alpha-linolenic acid	ω-3	11% 9%
Saturated fatty acids		7%
Palmitic acid		4%
Stearic acid		2%
Trans fat		0.4%

Regarding individual components, canola oil is low in saturated fat and contains both omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids in a ratio of 2:1. It is high in monounsaturated fats, which may decrease the risk of heart disease. Canola oil has been given a qualified health claim from the United States Food and Drug Administration due to its high levels of cholesterol-lowering fats.

Canolol, a phenolic compound showing antioxidant properties, is found in crude canola oil.

Erucic acid issues

Main article: Erucic acid

Although wild rapeseed oil contains significant amounts of erucic acid, the cultivar used to produce commercial, food-grade canola oil was bred to contain less than 2% erucic acid, levels that are not believed to cause harm in humans, and no health effects have been associated with dietary consumption by humans of erucic acid nor canola oil produced from genetically modified plants.

Canola oil poses no unusual health risks, and its consumption in food-grade forms is generally recognized as safe by the United States Food and Drug Administration.

Biodiesel

Main article: Biodiesel

Europe has invested heavily in infrastructure to use canola oil for biodiesel, spurred by EU biodiesel policy initiatives.

Comparison to other vegetable oils

Vegetable oils
Type	Processing Treatment	Saturated fatty acids	Mono- unsaturated fatty acids	Polyunsaturated fatty acids			Oleic acid (ω-9)	Smoke point
				Total poly	linolenic acid (ω-3)	Linoleic acid (ω-6)
Avocado		11.560	70.554	13.486	1	12.5		480 °F (249 °C)
Canola (rapeseed)		7.365	63.276	28.142	10	10		400 °F (204 °C)
Coconut		91.000	6.000	3.000		2	6	350 °F (177 °C)
Corn		12.948	27.576	54.677	1	58	28	450 °F (232 °C)
Cottonseed		25.900	17.800	51.900	1	54	19	420 °F (216 °C)
Flaxseed/Linseed (European)		7.500	15.500	79.000	64	15	11	225 °F (107 °C)
Olive		14.000	72.000	14.000	1.5	15		380 °F (193 °C)
Palm		49.300	37.000	9.300		10	40	455 °F (235 °C)
Peanut		16.900	46.200	32.000		32	48	437 °F (225 °C)
Safflower (>70% linoleic)		8.000	15.000	75.000				410 °F (210 °C)
Safflower (high oleic)		7.541	75.221	12.820				410 °F (210 °C)
Soybean		15.650	22.783	57.740	7	50	24	460 °F (238 °C)
Sunflower (<60% linoleic)		10.100	45.400	40.100	0.2	39.8	45.3	440 °F (227 °C)
Sunflower (>70% oleic)		9.859	83.689	3.798				440 °F (227 °C)
Cottonseed (hydrogenated)	Hydrogenated	93.600	1.529	0.587		0.287
Palm (hydrogenated)	Hydrogenated	47.500	40.600	7.500
Soybean (hydrogenated)	Hydrogenated	21.100	73.700	0.400	0.096
Values as percent (%) by weight of total fat.

Genetic modification issues

Blooming Canola field in Saskatchewan, Canada.

A genetically engineered rapeseed that is tolerant to herbicide was first introduced to Canada in 1995 (Roundup Ready canola). In 2009, 90% of the Canadian crop was herbicide-tolerant. As of 2005, 87% of the canola grown in the US was genetically modified. A 2010 study conducted in North Dakota found glyphosate- or glufosinate-resistance transgenes in 80% of wild natural rapeseed plants, and a few plants that were resistant to both herbicides. The escape of the genetically modified plants has raised concerns that the build-up of herbicide resistance in feral canola could make it more difficult to manage these plants using herbicides. However one of the researchers agrees that ".. feral populations could have become established after trucks carrying cultivated GM seeds spilled some of their load during transportation." She also notes that the GM canola results they found may have been biased as they only sampled along roadsides.

Legal issues

Legal issues include whether some countries allow genetically modified canola to be grown, and litigation between farmers and patent holders.

Regulation

Main article: Regulation of the release of genetically modified organisms

There are several forms of genetic modification, such as herbicide (glyphosate and glufosinate, for example) tolerance and different qualities in canola oil. Regulation varies from country to country; for example, glyphosate-resistant canola has been approved in Australia, Canada, China, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Philippines, and the US, while Laurical, a product with a different oil composition, has been approved for growing only in Canada and the US.

In 2003, Australia's gene technology regulator approved the release of canola genetically modified to make it resistant to glufosinate ammonium, a herbicide. The introduction of the genetically modified crop to Australia generated considerable controversy. Canola is Australia's third biggest crop, and is used often by wheat farmers as a break crop to improve soil quality. As of 2008, the only genetically modified crops in Australia were canola, cotton, and carnations.

Litigation

Genetically modified canola has become a point of controversy and contentious legal battles. In one high-profile case (Monsanto Canada Inc. v. Schmeiser) the Monsanto Company sued Percy Schmeiser for patent infringement after he replanted canola seed he had harvested from his field, which he discovered was contaminated with Monsanto's patented glyphosate-tolerant canola by spraying it with glyphosate, leaving only the resistant plants. The Supreme Court ruled that Percy was in violation of Monsanto's patent because he knowingly replanted the resistant seed that he had harvested and also imposing fees of over $200,000 on Schmeiser, but he was not required to pay Monsanto damages since he did not benefit financially from its presence. On 19 March 2008, Schmeiser and Monsanto Canada Inc. came to an out-of-court settlement whereby Monsanto would pay for the clean-up costs of the contamination, which came to a total of C$660.

See also

• Colza oil
• List of canola diseases
• Rapeseed
• Triangle of U

External links

• Review of University of Alberta Canola Breeding Program
• Swathing and Harvesting Canola
• Canola Production
• North Dakota State University picture comparing canola oil fatty acid content with other oils.
• USDA-ERS Topic - Canola Summary of canola production, trade, and consumption as well as links to relevant USDA reports.