November 27, 2020 3 min to read

What you need to know about rapeseed oil

Category : Food, Health

Rapeseed oil is produced from the black seeds of the rapeseed plant. If you happen to drive through Germany during springtime, you will come across large fields of bright yellow plants along the Autobahn.

These fields are full of rapeseed blooms. The rapeseed plant makes a very lovely and vibrant landscape surface when they sprout.

This is a very important plant in Germany and other countries. The seeds have many uses such as making cooking oil, biodiesel, and other oil-based products.

Rapeseed is quite popular around the world. Rapeseed is among the top three vegetable oils used for human consumption and in the industry. It follows palm oil which is the first one and soybean oil, the second one.

Rapeseed is commonly referred to as canola oil. Although rapeseed is a common plant in Germany, the largest producer of rapeseed in the world is Canada. In fact, canola is a blend of two words: “Canada” and “oil”.

The history of rapeseed oil

Rapeseed is basically oil extracted from the black seeds of rape plant and the scientific name is Brassica napus. It is a bright yellow plant majorly grown in large fields in Germany and Canada among other countries.

The plant does well mostly during springtime. The term “rape” is a Latin word for turnip. It is of the same family with mustard, cauliflower, and other cabbage plants.

For a thousand years, rapeseed crop has been cultivated and put into use by people in Europe, India and other countries around the world. Rapeseed oil is mainly used in making soap, for lamp oil and engine lubrication.

Germany made margarine out of rapeseed during World War I and World War II. More so, in famine times, it was eaten as food.

Rapeseed was rarely used in the food industry up until 1974. Before then, it was majorly used in the machine and chemical industries.

Universities in Germany took an uphill task of selective breeding programs and so the bitter-tasting, toxic substance, erucic acid was reduced to a safe level for human consumption in winter rapeseed.

Summer rapeseed later in Canada was found with low levels of the acid. Further research picked out plants with low levels of glucosinolates. The genetically modified edible rapeseed in known as “Rapeseed 00”.

Impressive health benefits of rapeseed oil

Rapeseed oil has serious and wonderful health benefits. When measured up against other oils, rapeseed has the lowest level of saturated fat and this is very beneficial to the human body. Even when compared with olive oil, it only has half the amount of saturated fat.

What is loaded in rapeseed oil is monosaturated fats. The oil is also highly recommended for vegetarians. Below are the health benefits of this beneficial oil:

1. It is abundant in Vitamin E

You will find vitamin E in a variety of foods such as peanuts, kales, spinach, sweet potatoes, and avocados just to name a few. However, plant oils such as rapeseed oil are the most abundant sources of this nutrient.

Rapeseed oil is well loaded with vitamin E which is very beneficial to the eyes, skin, hair and the immune system.

2. It is low in saturated fat

Rapeseed oil has the least measured levels of saturated fats when compared to other oils. Saturated fats raise blood cholesterol levels in the body and increase the risk of coronary artery disease and this can lead to heart disease.

Therefore, rapeseed oil is the best option for your health. More so, rapeseed oil contains polyunsaturated fat in large quantities. This is a fat that has been observed to lower the levels of LDL cholesterol.

3. It has essential fatty acids

A unique fact about rapeseed oil is that it is loaded with omega oils which are typically sourced from fish and fish products. Omega 3 fatty acid is among the nutrients that are beneficial to…
 
Continue reading the article and learn more about rapeseed oil on Daisy Linden’s blog.
 
 

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