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Canola

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Food and agriculture

   Canola field near Red Deer, Alberta
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   Canola field near Red Deer, Alberta

   In agriculture, Canola is a trademarked cultivar of the rapeseed plant
   from which rapeseed oil is obtained. Also known as "LEAR" oil (for Low
   Erucic Acid Rapeseed), Canola oil was initially bred in Canada by Keith
   Downey and Baldur Stefansson in the 1970s.

   The word "canola" is derived from "Canadian oil, low acid".

History

   Once considered a specialty crop in Canada, canola has evolved into a
   major North American cash crop. Canada and the United States produce
   between 7 and 10 million metric tons (tonnes) of canola seed per year.
   Annual Canadian exports total 3 to 4 million metric tons of the seed,
   700,000 metric tons of canola oil and 1 million metric tons of canola
   meal. The United States is a net consumer of canola oil. The major
   customers of canola seed are Japan, Mexico, China and Pakistan, while
   the bulk of canola oil and meal goes to the United States, with smaller
   amounts shipped to Mexico, China and Europe.

   Canola was developed through conventional plant breeding from rapeseed,
   an oilseed plant with roots in ancient civilization. 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 canola species commonly grown: Brassica napus
   and Brassica rapa. The negative associations with the word "rape" in
   North America resulted in the more marketing-friendly name "Canola".
   Bottle of Canola Oil from Canada
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   Bottle of Canola Oil from Canada
   Canola field in Temora, New South Wales
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   Canola field in Temora, New South Wales

   Hundreds of years ago, Asians and Europeans used rapeseed oil in lamps.
   As time progressed, people employed it as a cooking oil and added it to
   foods. 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 saw 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. Edible rapeseed oil extracts
   were first put on the market in 1956-1957, but these suffered from
   several unacceptable characteristics. Rapeseed oil had a distinctive
   taste and a disagreeable greenish colour due to the presence of
   chlorophyll. It also contained a high concentration of erucic acid,
   suspected of causing cancer if ingested in large amounts. Feed meal
   from the rapeseed plant was not particularly appealing to livestock,
   due to high levels of sharp-tasting compounds called glucosinolates.

   Rapeseed had been grown in Canada (mainly Saskatchewan) since 1936.
   Canadian plant breeders took up the challenge to improve the quality of
   the plant. In 1968, Dr. Baldur Stefansson of the University of Manitoba
   used selective breeding to develop a low erucic acid variety of
   rapeseed. In 1974 another variety was produced with both a low erucic
   acid content and a low level of glucosinolates; this was dubbed Canola,
   from Canadian Oil Low Acid.

   A variety developed in 1998 is considered to be the most disease- and
   drought-resistant variety of Canola to date. Recent varieties such as
   this have been produced by gene splicing techniques.

Other Canola facts

   Canola field near Bindi Bindi Western Australia
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   Canola field near Bindi Bindi Western Australia
     * Today about 75% of the Canola crops planted in Alberta, Manitoba,
       and Saskatchewan are GM ( genetically modified food)
       herbicide-tolerant varieties.

     * In 2004, North Dakota produced 91% of the Canola in the United
       States.

     * Compared with sunflower, corn, peanut, and many other oils, Canola
       has one of the lowest ratios of saturated to unsaturated fat, which
       has known health benefits.

     * The rapeseed blossom is a major source of nectar for honeybees.

     * Canola oil is a promising source for manufacturing biodiesel, a
       renewable alternative to fossil fuels.

     * The main price-discovery mechanism for worldwide canola trade is
       the Winnipeg Commodity Exchange canola futures contract. Rapeseed
       is traded on the Euronext exchange.

   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canola"
   This reference article is mainly selected from the English Wikipedia
   with only minor checks and changes (see www.wikipedia.org for details
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