Colza-Invest Program Description

Colza oil is obtained by pressing or by extraction from the seed of low cis-docos-13-enoic acid varieties of Brassica napus L. and Brassica rapa L. (Cruciferae). Usually, it is then refined.Within the temperate latitudes, rapeseed has been cultivated since ancient times. It is not known for certain in which country it originated, but it is believed to have been somewhere in Eurasia, where the plant was mentioned as far back as the 2nd millennium B.C. The German name 'Rüb oil' does not actually come from (sugar) 'Rübe' (colza), but from the mediæval word 'Rübse' (=rapeseed). In addition to Europe, the following countries and areas also cultivate this crop: India, China, North America and Canada.

For centuries, colza oil was characterised by its high cis-docos-13-enoic acid content, which acted not only as a barrier to human nutrition (pathological changes to the myocardium and to cardiac lipids), but also compromised animal health (reduced appetite, weight reduction, thyroid enlargement). It was not until varieties were bred that were low in cis-docos-13-enoic acid that humans were able to use colza oil for dietary purposes (1973 saw the German Bundessortenamt [Federal plant-breeding agency] license the first variety with a low in cis-docos-13-enoic acid content.