When was canola invented

Panoramic landscape prairie view of canola field and lake in Saskatchewan, Canada. Photo taken on: July 08th, Genetically modified canola offers much higher yields and economic benefits to farmers courtesy Ranjana Sharma, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. Baldur Stefansson and R. Downey first identified the first low erucic plants in rape, which led to the development of canola Corel Professional Photos.

Yellow canola field, Saskatchewan. Previous Next. Canola is a type of rapeseed and is a Canadian invention; it is characterized by having improved nutritional qualities in both the oil and the meal. Unlike other seeds and plants canola and rapeseed do not have a single Latin name. Canola plants belong to the Brassicaceae Cruciferae family that comprises about genera and species, including Brassica campestris or rapa turnip Brassica napus rutabaga , Brassica oleracea cabbage and cauliflower and Brassica juncea mustard.

Brassica campestris originated in the foothills of the Himalayan Mountains; Brassica napus probably originated in the Mediterranean region and was the result of natural crosses between Brassica campestris and Brassica oleracea plants.

Canola varieties could belong to Brassica rapa , Brassica napus or Brassica juncea. Canada is the biggest single producer of canola. More than 13 million tonnes of canola are produced in Canada annually and the objective is to produce 15 million tonnes by About half the canola produced is exported to various countries. The main importing countries are the United States, Japan and Mexico. Rapeseed has been an important source of edible vegetable oil in Asia for almost years and was used as a lighting oil and edible oil in Europe since at least the Middle Ages.

Rapeseed was first grown in Canada during the Second World War as a source of high-quality lubricant for marine engines. This led to the location and purchase of 19, kilograms 41, pounds of rapeseed from United States seed companies, which had originally been secured from Argentina.

This seed was sown on 1, hectares 3, acres in with a harvest of one million kilograms 2. Growers received a good return for their production, which stimulated an expansion of B. The development of hybridization systems cytoplasmic male sterility with resulting greater seed yield, earlier maturity, disease and pod shatter tolerance has led to the dominance of B.

In , a Shellbrook, SK farmer obtained rapeseed seed from a friend or relative in Poland. They grew this seed in their garden for a few years and found the plants to be well-adapted to their environment. However, at this time, there were no established markets in Canada for rapeseed.

With the Second World War approaching, and the requirement for more information on rapeseed production, the Shellbrook farmer increased their seed supply and sold seed to neighbours. It was later established that this rapeseed belonged to the B. Since seed of the B. Yield tests showed that B. However, the earlier maturity and greater pod shatter tolerance of B. The high Canola oil quality of B.

This species is more suitable to the hotter, drier regions of the southern prairies and is best adapted to the brown soil zone. Plant breeders make crosses among promising genetic material, and select for desired seed yield, seed constituent concentrations e. After several years of field testing, greenhouse testing, and the careful selection of genetics, promising lines are entered into private and public evaluation trials called Co-operative Tests that are located at over 20 locations across western Canada.

Lines that meet the criteria of the Committee are recommended to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency for cultivar A cultivar is a variant in a species developed through the intervention of humans despite the term 'variety' often being incorrectly used to describe this. It requires eight to 10 years from the initial crosses until a cultivar A cultivar is a variant in a species developed through the intervention of humans despite the term 'variety' often being incorrectly used to describe this.

Other rapeseed breeding programs were initiated at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, MB in and at the University of Alberta, in Edmonton, AB in to develop more regionally adapted cultivars.

The original seed supply of the B. However, these seed stocks provided the genetic material for the development of Canadian B. Similarly, B. Early breeding programs concentrated their efforts on improving agronomic characteristics and in oil concentration in the harvested seed. The first rapeseed cultivar A cultivar is a variant in a species developed through the intervention of humans despite the term 'variety' often being incorrectly used to describe this. Currently, there are over cultivars registered for planting in Canada.

Edible vegetable oils are made up of fatty acids. The types of fatty acids determine whether a vegetable oil is used for edible or industrial purposes. Certain fatty acids, such as linoleic acid, are considered essential in human diets because they cannot be synthesized by the human body, but must be obtained from diet. All of the rapeseed cultivars listed above produced oil containing large concentrations of eicosenoic and erucic acids, which are not considered essential for human growth.

A comparison of rapeseed oil and oil from older canola cultivars to other vegetable oils is shown in Table 1. A comparison of current canola oil and other edible oils or dietary fats are available on CanolaInfo. As early as , the nutritional aspects of rapeseed oil were questioned, especially the high eicosenoic and erucic fatty acid contents.

Canadian plant breeders responded quickly with isolation of rapeseed plants with low eicosenoic and erucic acid content-by for B. These desirable characteristics were then bred into suitable cultivars:. The development of low erucic cultivars represented significant improvement to seed quality and allowed Canada to first establish a maximum level of five per cent erucic acid in the oil component of the seed.

Continual improvements in canola cultivars through plant breeding have allowed this maximum to be reduced to less than two per cent erucic acid, which is currently the global standard. While rapeseed oil quality changes were being bred into suitable cultivars, plant breeders were also working with animal nutritionists to optimize meal quality for livestock consumption.

Rapeseed meal is an excellent source of protein with a favourable balance of amino acids. However, the use of rapeseed meal in rations was limited by its glucosinolates content, which most plants of the mustard family contain. Glucosinolates are responsible for the pungent odour and taste, which ranges from the hot flavour in mustard seed and horseradish, to the more subtle flavours of rutabaga and cauliflower.

The glucosinolates in rapeseed led to inadequate palatability and nutritional content for livestock and poultry, resulting in reduced feed efficacy. For this reason, plant breeders searched for genetic material low in glucosinolates. In , seeds from plants of the Polish cultivar A cultivar is a variant in a species developed through the intervention of humans despite the term 'variety' often being incorrectly used to describe this.

This genetic source for low glucosinolates concentration was then utilized to develop low erucic, low glucosinolates cultivars. Baldur Stefansson of the University of Manitoba developed the first low erucic acid, low glucosinolate cultivar A cultivar is a variant in a species developed through the intervention of humans despite the term 'variety' often being incorrectly used to describe this.

In , the first double low Polish cultivar A cultivar is a variant in a species developed through the intervention of humans despite the term 'variety' often being incorrectly used to describe this.

Saskatoon 2. Stefansson and Dr. Canada became the first country in the world to produce large quantities of rapeseed with low erucic acid in the oil and low glucosinolates in the meal. Canola includes seeds of the genus Brassica Brassica napus Also referred to as Argentine canola, it is the species of canola currently commonly grown in Canada. Except for specialty fatty acid cultivars like high erucic acid destined for specialty industrial markets, the cultivars registered in Canada must be of canola quality.

Canola oil quality B. Saskatoon and Saskatchewan Wheat Pool by changing the fatty acid profile to that found in B. Through mutagenesis and gene transfer, plant breeders have developed canola cultivars that are tolerant to specific herbicides or groups of herbicides:. A canola hybrid is the result of crossbreeding two lines of canola. Research in greenhouses have showed that making hand crosses between two distantly related lines of canola resulted in seed yield up to 45 per cent higher than either parent line when grown to maturity on their own.

This increase in seed yield is the result of heterosis or hybrid vigour Seed properties that determine the potential for rapid uniform emergence and development of normal seedlings under a wide range of field conditions.

The more distantly related the parents, the greater the hybrid vigour Seed properties that determine the potential for rapid uniform emergence and development of normal seedlings under a wide range of field conditions.

However, producing hybrid seed by hand for large volumes of seed is economically impractical. To date, several approaches have been taken to develop hybridization systems in B. The first relatively successful programs utilized traditional hybrid breeding methods such as cytoplasmic male sterility CMS.

Researchers discovered that some Brassica species and close relatives had male-sterile cytoplasm material surrounding the nucleus of a cell. At the cellular level, fertility is controlled by an interaction between the cell nucleus and cytoplasm. The CMS systems for canola hybridization depend upon this mutation in certain cytoplasmic bodies that result in failure to develop functional pollen or anthers.

Use of CMS allowed canola breeders to produce canola female plants that either fail to make pollen, fail to shed pollen or make pollen that is unable to cause self-fertilization. Female plant flowers from Line A have a sterile cytoplasm and do not produce pollen and cannot self-pollinate.

This CMS characteristic is inherited maternally. The restorer Line R is genetically different from Line A and contains nuclear genes that compensate for the defect in the cytoplasm and restore fertility to the hybrid cross. The first commercial CMS B. A novel hybridization system was developed by Plant Genetic Systems in Belgium through biotechnology.

This system involves the use of two parental lines. The first parental line is male sterile and does not produce viable pollen grains and cannot self-pollinate. A gene isolated from a common soil bacterium and inserted into the parental line causes this nuclear male sterility.

The gene controls production of a specific enzyme in a specific anther cell layer and at a specific stage of anther development resulting in no pollen production. The second parental line contains another gene, obtained from the same common soil bacterium that produces an inhibitor enzyme that counteracts the sterility enzyme in the first parental line to restore fertility.

A gene that confers tolerance to the herbicide glufosinate ammonium Liberty was inserted into both parental lines. When the two lines are crossed, the progeny is a per cent true hybrid. And since fertility is restored, the hybrid plants are fully fertile and produce seed. Hybrid breeding techniques, while reasonably successful in B. Synthetic canola cultivars are developed by blending seed from one parent with seed from another parent and growing out the mixed seed to produce a Certified synthetic seed Figure 3.

Synthetics of B. The resulting Certified synthetic seed composed of a mixture of hybrid and parental plants tends to be more stable over a wider range of environmental conditions than conventional cultivars. In comparison, a synthetic canola cultivar A cultivar is a variant in a species developed through the intervention of humans despite the term 'variety' often being incorrectly used to describe this.

In fact, most Canola oil today comes from genetically engineered seed so far deviated from natural rapeseed that it can be patented. Since canola is wind pollenated, and pollen drift is impossible to stop , it is almost impossible for organic Canola farmers to keep these patented contaminants out of their crops.

It is also next to impossible for farmers organic or otherwise to combat the Superweeds that are evolving in response to constant, massive doses of Roundup. There are numerous concerns about genetically engineered GM crops that should make anyone cautious at best about their consumption. But the simple fact that Roundup-Ready Canola is doused repeatedly throughout the season with a carcinogenic herbicide that is known to harm both people and planet, is reason enough to stay far away from it.

One of the biggest problems with highly processed, industrial oils like corn, soybean, sunflower, and Canola, is that the polyunsaturated component of the oil is highly unstable under heat, light, and pressure, which heavily oxidize the polyunsaturates, increasing free radicals in your body. The end result of all of this refining and processing are oils that are highly inflammatory in your body when you ingest them, potentially contributing to heart disease , stroke , cancer , weight gain, and other degenerative diseases.

The reason that extra virgin olive oil is good for you is that it is usually cold pressed without the use of heat and solvents to aid extraction. Canola oil, on the other hand, is typically extracted and refined using high heat, pressure, and toxic petroleum solvents such as hexane, which is known to cause nerve damage in humans. Though you can find cold-pressed, organic Canola oil at specialty stores, almost all Canola oil on the market undergoes a process of caustic refining, degumming, bleaching, and deodorization, all using high heat and questionable chemicals.

If your food requires hexane, degumming solvents, bleaching and chemical deodorization, should you be eating it? Even worse, all of the high-heat, high-pressure processing with solvents actually forces some of the omega-3 content of Canola oil to be transformed into trans fats! According to Dr. Possibly the greatest danger of Canola oil is that even though it now has Generally Recognized as Safe GRAS status, no long-term studies on humans have ever been done. Animal studies on Low Erucic Acid Rapeseed oil were performed when the oil was first developed and have continued to the present.

The results challenge not only the health claims made for Canola oil, but also the theoretical underpinnings of the lipid hypothesis. In , Japanese scientists announced a study wherein a special Canola oil diet had actually killed laboratory animals. Reacting to this unpublished, but verified and startling information, a duplicate study was conducted by Canadian scientists, using piglets and a Canola oil-based milk-replacer diet.

In this second study, published in Nutrition Research, , the researchers verified that Canola oil somehow depleted the piglets of vitamin E to a dangerously low level. And another study confirmed this as well. Vitamin E is absolutely essential to human health.