Canola oil is an oil made from a particular species of rapeseed and canola stands for 'CANadian Oil Low Acid'. It is a modified rapeseed from which the erucic acid, a problematic component for human health that I will write about later, has been removed.

Rapeseed (Brassica napus L.) belongs to the Brassicaceae family and originated around 10,000 years ago from the spontaneous hybridisation between Brassica rapa L. and Brassica oleracea L. (1).

Oilseed is the world's third largest oilseed crop, providing around 13% of the world's vegetable oil supply (2), an oil used in industry as a lubricant, in the food sector (where it had a problematic episode in Spain in 1981. Subsequently, in 1991, the European Community established more restrictive lees for food cultivation) and in the oil sector for bio-diesel.

Flavonoids flavonols such as Quecetin, Isorhamnetin, Kaempferol and some epicatechin derivatives are found in rapeseed (3).

Rapeseed oil for cosmetic use is among the cheapest oils on the market and is extracted mechanically and chemically. Rapeseed has a very high oil content, about 40%.

It is referred to as Canola oil or rapeseed oil.

The rapeseed plants Brassica napus, Brassica rapa, Brassica juncea belong to the Brassicaceae family.

The extraction process requires large, specialised plants and goes through these stages :

Cleaning of the oily seed by dedusting and defertilisation by mechanical pressing to ensure a better yield.

• Cold pressing with mechanical extraction of the crude oil.
• Clarification of crude oil by separation from sludge (DIN V 51605).
• Filtering of the clarified oil by microfiltration to 1 micron.
• Storage of the filtered oil in approved tanks.

It contains erucic acid, an acid that can cause toxicity in high doses. However, since 1991, the European Community has established more restrictive cultivation lines for rapeseed, so the amount of this acid in rapeseed oil has drastically decreased. This oil now has a low content of erucic acid (around 2%) as well as glucosinolates.

After soya oil and palm oil, rapeseed oil is the third most popular oil in the world. Due to its composition, which includes tocopherols, sterols and phenolic compounds (synapic acid), it has antioxidant properties.

It appears as a yellow oily liquid or as a white powder with a slight nutty smell.

Typical commercial product characteristics Rapeseed oil

It protects the skin by regulating its water balance and produces a slight anti-ageing effect. This study found that certain protease-only hydrolysis products (Alcalase 2.4L FG, Protex 6L, Protamex and Corolase 7089) exerted antioxidant, anti-wrinkle and anti-inflammatory activities in vitro (4).

Used in treatments for soaps. hair, nail oils.

References____________________________________________________________________

(1) U N (1935) Genomic analysis in Brassica with special reference to the experimental formation of B. napus and peculiar mode of fertilisation. Jpn J Bot 7: 389–452

(2) . Hajduch M, Casteel JE, Hurrelmeyer KE, Song Z, Agrawal GK, Thelen JJ. Proteomic analysis of seed filling in Brassica napus. Developmental characterization of metabolic isozymes using high-resolution two-dimensional gel electrophoresis. Plant Physiol. 2006 May;141(1):32-46. doi: 10.1104/pp.105.075390. 

(3) Qu C, Fu F, Lu K, Zhang K, Wang R, Xu X, Wang M, Lu J, Wan H, Zhanglin T, Li J. Differential accumulation of phenolic compounds and expression of related genes in black- and yellow-seeded Brassica napus. J Exp Bot. 2013 Jul;64(10):2885-98. doi: 10.1093/jxb/ert148. 

(4) Rivera D, Rommi K, Fernandes MM, Lantto R, Tzanov T. Biocompounds from rapeseed oil industry co-stream as active ingredients for skin care applications. Int J Cosmet Sci. 2015 Oct;37(5):496-505. doi: 10.1111/ics.12222.