Canola field, Willamette Valley, Oregon, May 2017. Rapeseed oil is one of the oldest known vegetable oils. There are both edible and industrial forms produced from rapeseed, the seed of several cultivars of the plant family Brassicaceae.
Where is rapeseed grown?
Rapeseed is extensively cultivated in Canada, France, Belgium, Ireland, the United Kingdom, the United States, the Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, Poland, Japan and Slovenia. In France and Denmark especially, the extraction of the oil is an important industry. The name for rapeseed comes from the Latin word rapum meaning turnip.
What is rapeseed oil?
Rapeseed oil is one of the most commonly produced vegetable oils globally. In 2019, world production of rapeseed oil was 24 million tonnes, led by Canada, China, and India as the largest producers, accounting together for 40% of the world total.
When did rapeseed oil come out?
Rapeseed oil extracts were first put on the market in 1956¨C1957 as food products, but these suffered from several unacceptable characteristics. That form of rapeseed oil had a distinctive taste and a greenish colour due to the presence of chlorophyll and still contained a higher concentration of erucic acid.