Rapeseed, plant of the mustard family (Brassicaceae) grown for its seeds, which yield canola, or rapeseed, oil. Canola oil is variously used in cooking, as an ingredient in soap and margarine, and as a lamp fuel (colza oil). Learn more about the plant and its uses.
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.
How has rapeseed oil changed over the years?
Worldwide production of rapeseed (including canola) has increased sixfold between 1975 and 2007. The production of canola and rapeseed since 1975 has opened up the edible oil market for rapeseed oil.
How does rapeseed oil grow?
Rapeseed oil is predominantly cultivated in its winter form in most of Europe and Asia due to the requirement of vernalization to start the process of flowering. It is sown in autumn and remains in a leaf rosette on the soil surface during the winter. The plant grows a long vertical stem in the next spring followed by lateral branch development.