Rapeseed oil is widely used in the food industry, especially after palm oil has been banned.
Origin of rapeseed oil
Rapeseed oil is obtained from rapeseed seeds, a plant of the Brassicaceae family. In the past, this oil was considered toxic, because it did not undergo accurate refining processes and contained high percentages of erucic acid, a monounsaturated fat that is difficult to metabolize, which accumulates in the body mainly by the liver and harmful to the heart.
Subsequent regulations for food control have established that the level of erucic acid must respect the 5% ceiling for foods intended for adults and 1% for those intended for children.
Oil Industry, stated that rapeseed oil is rich in tocopherol and Omega 3.
It is also a low-cost oil, which does not impact on the environment, from widespread cultivation in Europe. After this necessary premise, let’s take a closer look at the characteristics of rapeseed oil and its uses
Rapeseed oil, how it is extracted
As already mentioned, rapeseed oil is extracted from the seeds of Brassica Napus Oleifera, the rapeseed. This oil has been extensively studied and researchers have succeeded in obtaining a variety of rapeseed with low erucic acid content tending to zero, called Canadian Brassica or Canola from Canadian Oil Low Acid, therefore completely harmless to health.
Rapeseed is grown in many European countries, especially in France, Germany, Belgium, Holland and Italy. The residues of the extraction from the seeds are used to make rapeseed meal, used in animal feed.
Is rapeseed oil bad for you?
Rapeseed oil has a particularly articulated oleic composition : omega 9 monounsaturated oleic acid , omega 3 precursor alpha linoleic acid, and the presence of omega 6. Rapeseed oil is also rich in tocopherols , vitamin E, phytosterols and chlorophyll.
It is easy to understand that canola-variant rapeseed oil is useful for preventing cardiovascular disorders due to its cholesterol-lowering effects, it allows to keep the amount of vitamin E, a cellular protective antioxidant in balance.
Nutritional values of rapeseed oil
This oil is used in the food industry, as an edible oil, to formulate margarine, as a frying oil.
Its nutritional properties are interesting. 100 g of rapeseed oil provide approximately:
- 900 calories in lipids,
- 22 mg of vitamin E,
- 0.1mg of iron,
- traces of sodium and potassium.
Curiosities about rapeseed oil
- Many varieties of rapeseed oil produced overseas are GMO.
- Rapeseed oil can be converted into biofuel for the operation of diesel engines.
- It is hardly counted on the labeling in an explicit way, but as a generic “vegetable oils“.
