Rapeseed

An oilseed crop, Brassica napus, believed to have arisen from the natural hybridization of a wild cabbage relative and a turnip relative, likely somewhere in Europe, with cultivation for its oil recorded since antiquity. In its traditional form rapeseed oil was high in erucic acid and glucosinolates, compounds that limited its use in food; twentieth century Canadian plant breeding produced low-erucic-acid, low-glucosinolate cultivars marketed as canola, now grown widely for both cooking oil and animal feed meal. Canada, together with the European Union, China and India, is among the leading modern producers of the crop.