Mar 18, 2006

Research Oilseed Rape

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Rapeseed utilisation

Cooking oil, animal feed, biodiesel

Rapeseed is a relatively new crop plant. Until a few years ago the oil pressed from the seeds was not edible. That has changed in the meantime. Modern rapeseed varieties yield not only high value cooking oils, the residues after oil extraction can also be used as animal feed. In the last few years primarily the growing demand for biodiesel has led to a sharp increase in rapeseed cultivation in Germany.

Rapeseed is the most important oilseed grown in Germany. In the last fifteen years the acreage under cultivation has doubled.

Rapsseed being delivered to an oil mill..
(Photo: Degussa)

Consumption of plant oil in Germany; 2008. Total amount 5.6 million tons..

Consumption of protein fodder in the EU and Germany Source: Oil World

Fatty acid content of different cooking oils. Mono- or polyunsaturated fatty acids help to reduce the level of cholesterol in the blood.

Rapeseed cultivation After soya beans (58%), rapeseed (13%) occupies the second place in the global oil seed production. The most important rapeseed-producing countries worldwide are the European Union (35%) and China (22%). In the last few years Canada has notably increased its production, lying with almost 20% just behind China. These countries produce two thirds of the world harvest.

Rapeseed is by far the most important oil seed in Germany. In 2009, a record yield of 6.29 million tons of winter rapeseed was achieved, an increase of 22.4% over the previous year. At the same time the acreage under cultivation increased by 7.4% to almost 1.5 million hectares. The average harvests from the years 2003–2008 were exceeded by 27.8%.

Utilisation of rapeseed oil. In Germany a total of 5.6 million tons of plant oil was consumed in 2008, more than a half of which (57%) was rapeseed oil.

The percentage of oil in rapeseed is approximately 40%. About 30% of the rapeseed oil produced is used in food production or as cooking oil. At least a half is either processed further to biodiesel or used without any further chemical conversion as plant oil fuel. A further 12% is used as technical grease and oils in different industrial applications.

Although Germany in the meantime leads the world in biodiesel production, as a result of an altered policy on subsidies, the marketing potential for biodiesel has considerably declined over the last two years. In 2008 the sales of biodiesel and plant oil decreased by 16% compared to the previous year.

Rapeseed as animal feed. After extraction of the oil, 60% of the rapeseed remains as a protein-rich press cake and rapeseed meal. This is fed to pigs, cows and recently also poultry.

After soya meal, rapeseed meal is the most important protein fodder in Germany and the EU. The proportion of rapeseed meal in Germany is higher than in the rest of the EU (see Table). In Germany, the consumption of rapeseed meal increased between 1985 and 2008 from 1.2 to over 3 million tons. This was mainly due to the improved feed quality of the newly developed rapeseed varieties, in which components that were detrimental to digestion were successfully suppressed.

Rapeseed oil in the diet. In terms of nutritional physiology, rapeseed oil is a valuable cooking oil. In comparison to other plant oils it has the highest content of unsaturated fatty acids (91 g/100 g) and the lowest proportion of saturated fatty acids. For monounsaturated fatty acids it is only beaten by olive oil, which has more saturated fatty acids.

Processed rapeseed oil is used in margarines, spreads, bakery products, convenience foods, gourmet products and many other foods.