Boost from double-zero rape

The breakthrough in oilseed rape cultivation came with the new 00 varieties. These were the first varieties to produce a tasty, digestible oil, making it an attractive raw material for the food industry. Within a few years, the area under cultivation had increased several times over.

For a long time, rape cultivation in Germany was minimal. The oils extracted from it tasted bitter and were used as table oil or margarine only in times of crisis. As recently as 1974 the food industry was processing only just under a third of the rape harvest. The rest was used as a raw material in various branches of the chemical industry.

Oilseed rape belongs to the family of the Brassicaceae (cabbage family) and is closely related to our cabbage varieties. It is the result of a crossing between wild cabbage (Brassica oleracea) and field/turnip mustard (Brassica rapa). Rapeseed probably cames from the Mediterranean region where the habitats of the original species overlap.

This miserable state of affairs ended when plant breeders succeeded in suppressing two substances which had until then restricted the suitability of rape as food and feed. Without the use of today’s genetic or cellular biological methods, the breeders developed "novel" varieties which made the cultivation of oilseed rape attractive for farmers.

In 1960 a Canadian scientist found a few isolated mutant plants in a German summer rape variety. The oil from these plants did not contain any erucic acid. This monounsaturated fatty acid leaves a raspy bitter taste in the mouth and had been the primary reason why most oilseed rape had been used for industrial purposes.

It took at least ten years for the first erucic-acid-free rape varieties with good yield and cultivation characteristics to come onto the market. They were also called "0 rape".

However, there were other substances preventing economically attractive use of rape - glucosinolates. They were a particular problem in fodder made from the protein-rich press cake that is left behind after oil extraction. Glucosinolates can produce certain breakdown products which are toxic in high concentrations and lead to metabolic disorders.

Another 10 years later came a second breakthrough. Using improved analysis methods, scientists succeeded in identifying low-gucosinolate forms of oilseed rape. This trait was introduced into common rape varieties using plant-breeding methods. This lowered the glucosinolate content of the 0-rape by over 90 per cent.

In the mid-80s new rape varieties were available to farmers which were low in both erucic acid and glucosinolates and were called 00 (double zero) rape. In recent years hybrid breeding has succeeded in significantly increasing the yields of these quality rape varieties.

This made rape cultivation economically attractive – and increasing numbers of farmers began sowing the new varieties. Almost the whole of Germany’s rape cultivation area is now planted with 00 rape.

Boost from double-zero rape

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