Масличность рапса : ботаническая природа , биохимические особенности и пищевой потенциал

Abstract

The annual rapeseed (Brassica napus L.), a member of the Brassicaceae family, has long been used as a source of technical oil. The development of low-erucic varieties (canola, less than 5% erucic acid) by Canadian breeders in the 1970s made rapeseed a valuable and promising oilseed crop. In the Russian Federation, rapeseed oil, extracted from the seeds of the mature pods of the plant, currently ranks third after sunflower and soybean oil in terms of production volume, surpassing them in a number of biochemical parameters: optimal ratio of ω‑6: ω‑3 fatty acids (1:3–2:1), high content of oleic acid (up to 79.57%), tocopherols (45–75 mg%), carotenoids (0.30–0.57 mg%) and sterols (0.5–1.0%). The high nutritional potential of rapeseed is explained by the availabilityof winter and spring forms, domestic and foreign varieties and hybrids, successful breeding for increased oil content and resistance to diseases, good yields in many natural zones of Russia, profitability of 100–150%, sometimes up to 400% and more, despite the need for strict adherence to cultivation technology, etc. In the fatty oil industry, oil yield refers to the content of crude fat and accompanying fat-like substances that pass from the seeds into the ether extract along with the fat. The cells of oil rapeseeds contain structures, that accumulate free lipids stored by the plant for use by the growing seedling: oleosomes and possibly fat inclusions in the cytoplasm, and plastoglobules in the plastids. The formation of neutral fats is a universal mechanism for “switching off” excess primary synthesis products from plant metabolism. The qualitative fatty acid composition of seed oils of different plant species (in contrast to oils extracted from the nonseed parts of the fleshy oil fruits) is quite similar; the amount of fatty acids and the fat-soluble components extracted with them (antioxidants, vitamins, etc.) is variable. Knowledge of the botanical nature and biochemical characteristics of the oil content of rapeseed will make it possible to obtain maximum nutritional benefits through breeding, agronomic and technological methods.