Properties of rapeseed oil
Rape seeds contain 35-50% fat, 5-7% fiber and 18-31% protein, which is well balanced by amino acids. This plant in terms of fat and protein content exceeds soybean and alternatively in some way sunflower and mustard.
Currently, the market is full of edible fats, and therefore attempts are made to non-food use of rapeseed. Today, plant sources are trying to produce liquid fuel, which is necessary, for example, for the northern regions. Rape oil can be used for this purpose. In addition, it may be used to refuel vehicles. It is not toxic, and therefore can completely replace gasoline.
Rape is also used as a forage crop. It is used for haylage and green mass, as well as herbal flour in combination with other plants, and in pure form. This plant is also a pasture crop for cattle (pigs, sheep, etc.). Rape grows rapidly and contains a huge amount of protein, which contains sulfur. On rape crops, sheep are specially produced, because this helps reduce the incidence of small cattle and increase the yield of meat / wool. From the rape fields, bees collect 80-90 kilograms of honey (1 ha).
After processing the seeds of rapeseed, a full-fledged oil with a huge protein content is obtained. The protein of this plant is similar in composition to protein, soy, cow's butter, milk and eggs.
Rapeseed oil is famous for its quality and therefore there is a demand for it all over the world. In the world market, this oil is in the top five by volume of imports and exports, ranking fourth. It is second only to palm, soybean and sunflower oils.
Today, an annual rape plant is cultivated in different countries of the world, primarily as an oilseed crop. Canola oil obtained from rapeseed seeds is used for food in most countries of the world.
In its composition, rapeseed includes a huge amount of unsaturated fatty acids, important in regulating fat metabolism. This determines the healing properties of the oil. Thus, rapeseed oil helps to lower cholesterol and prevent the possibility of thrombus formation and other diseases. These acids are rarely found in fats of animal origin. Physicians argue that in the composition of rapeseed oil there are substances that are resistant to irradiation.
Due to the content of erucic acid in rapeseed oil, it is actively used in various fields of industry (in metallurgy for hardening of steel, etc.). In addition, the oil, processed from rapeseed, is resistant to low temperatures, and therefore can be used as a lubricant in jet engines.
Rapeseed oil can be used as a raw material for the manufacture of elastic materials due to its ability at 160-250 ° C to attach sulfur and form the actual - rubbery mass. For the production of cellulose / furfural, straw of the plant and leaflets of the pods are suitable. Rapeseed oil is also used in textile, chemical, leather, printing, soap, cosmetics and paint and varnish industries.
Seeds of rape are famous for their peculiar chemical composition, because it differs from the composition of other oil plants. The main difference between rapeseed oil is the erucic acid content in glycerides and phospholipids, as well as the presence of glucosides, which contain sulfur in the protein part of the seeds. In addition, rapeseed contains an enzyme myrosinase, which is capable of cleaving thioglucosides.
The erucic acid content in the annual plant is 42-52%. Its presence in rapeseed can be considered as a positive or negative feature of the plant. Everything depends on the purpose of use - food or technical.
There is evidence that erucic acid can have a negative effect on the human body and, first of all, on the exchange of lipids in some internal organs. When feeding rapeseed oil of animals and birds, they had necrotic changes in the myocardium, impaired renal function, liver disease. Thioglycosides of the oil can cause irritation of the mucous membranes of the digestive system, respiratory tract, disorder of the normal functioning of the thyroid gland. In addition, thioglycosides cause corrosive equipment.