Description
Rapeseed , also known as rape, oilseed, rape, rapa, rappi, rapaseed
(and, in the case of one particular group of cultivars, canola), is
a bright-yellow flowering member of the family Brassicaceae
.Rapeseed oil is one of the oldest vegetable oils, but historically
was used in limited quantities due to high levels of erucic acid,
which is damaging to cardiac muscle of animals, and glucosinolates,
which made it less nutritious in animal feed.
Rapeseed oil can contain up to *4% erucic acid. Food-grade canola
oil derived from rapeseed cultivars, also known as rapeseed *0 oil,
low erucic acid rapeseed oil, LEAR oil, and rapeseed
canola-equivalent oil, has been generally recognized as safe by the
United States Food and Drug Administration.
It has both industrial and comestible usage.
