Production

Canola is an edible type of rapeseed that was developed in the 1970’s [17]. Rapeseed grown prior to that time had moderate levels of erucic acid, which was recognized to be harmful in laboratory rat tests (cholesterol elevation and reduced weight). Breeders in Canada developed rapeseed varieties with low erucic acid content [25]. In 1978, Varieties with less than 2 percent erucic acid were trademarked as “Canola. ” Canola varieties must also have less than 30 micromoles of glucosinolates per gram of oil-free meal. Glucosinolates will negatively affect the consumption of canola meal by animals, thus reducing its feeding value. Canola’s amino acid distribution is very complementary to soybean meal and the two meals are often included in the same feed ration. Feeding studies have shown that animals perform better when fed a mixture of the two meals than when fed either alone [17]. Canola oil has been recognized as the healthiest oil available to consumers with low saturated and high monounsaturated fatty acids and a unique level of the omega3 fatty acid, alpha-linolenic acid. Canola oil is usually blended with other vegetable oils for the production of various solid and liquid cooking oils and salad dressings. Canola proteins are currently not being sold into the human food market