Canola oil is derived from rapeseed cultivars that have been modified through breeding to be low in erucic acid and glucosinolates. It has a healthier fatty acid composition than other oils, being lower in saturated fats and higher in monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats like omega-3s. Genetic engineering has further modified canola to improve traits like herbicide resistance and fatty acid profiles. Canola oil is widely used in food products and industrial applications due to its light color, texture and nutritional profile. However, producing genetically modified oils can increase costs due to lower yields and additional identity preservation requirements compared to conventional oils.

1. Miss. Snehal KeshavraoTambakhe
snehal.tambakhe@gmail.com

2. Introduction
More recently, plant breeders used crossing and selection techniques
to enhance yields, oil contents, and climate adaptation, as well as to
affect changes in oil quality, composition, and resistance to pests or
pesticides.
Genetic modification implies transfer of a gene from one species to
another (transgenic). The drivers for these seed modification are nutrition,
functionality and agronomics.
Genetic varieties have been developed to modify the fatty acid
profile of oil seed to create new value-added oils.
Introduction of high-oleic safflower in 1964 and low-erucic acid rapeseed
oil, which became known as canola oil in 1978, are examples of
successful fatty acid composition modifications using this technology.

3. Canola oil
Rapeseed is an important food crop, a fact that was made possible
through modern plant breeding. Around 1960, researchers started developing
new rapeseed cultivers that enabled the crop’s rapid growth in recent years.
These improved rapeseed cultivars were free of erucic acid and glucosinolates.
Erucic acid tastes bitter and had prevented the use of rapeseed oil in food.
Gluconsinolates, which were found in rapeseed meal leftover from pressing,
are toxic and had prevented the use of the meal in animal feed.These new
cultivars are known as "double-zero" rapeseed. In Canada, where "double-zero"
rapeseed was developed, the crop was renamed "canola" (Canadian oil) to
differentiate it from non-edible rapeseed.
Canola is the registered trademark of the Canola Council of
Canada for the genetically modified seed, oil, and meal derived from rapeseed
cultivars, Brassica napus and B. campestris.
Another product, known as LEAR (low erucic acid rape-seed), was derived from
the cross-breeding of Brassica juncea and is also referred to as canola oil (CO)

4. Referred to as the healthiest cooking oil available on the market by its
makers, canola oil is low in saturated fat, high in monounsaturated fatty acid
(MUFA), and polyunsaturated fat (PUFA) like omega-3 fatty acids.The oil is
produced from pressed canola seed, which are harvested from pods obtained
from the canola plant.
Although they look the same on the outside, canola is actually not
rapeseed. Canola was not developed using biotechnology, but much of it grown
in the United States and Canada today has been genetically modified to make it
to tolerant to some herbicides.

5. Composition of Canola Oil
Canola oil is praised by the mainstream food industry due to its fatty acid
content:
Saturated fat – Canola oil contains about seven percent – half the amount
found in corn oil, olive oil, and soybean oil.
Monounsaturated fatty acids –This is the most abundant fat in canola oil.
The MUFA oleic acid makes up 61 percent of canola oil.
Polyunsaturated fatty acid – Compared to palm oil and olive oil, canola oil
has a higher amount of PUFA. It has a ratio of omega-6 fat (linoleic acid)
and omega-3 fat (alpha-linolenic acid) of 2:1.

6. Genetically Modified Oil
The genetic modification efforts focused on improved canola hybrids. The
agronomic goals to increase field yields; improve frost resistance; increase oil and
meal contents; and improve disease, insect, and herbicide resistance were met, in
most cases, by using genetic engineering technology.
The programs to further modify the fatty acid profiles have also achieved
their goals. Oilseed modifications to reduce saturates and linolenic, increase oleic
or saturates, and to develope a canola variety with a high lauric fatty acid content have
all been developed.
Low in erucic acid and glucosinolates, are very different from high erucic acid
rapeseed oil in chemical, physical and nutritional properties.

7. The characteristics of canola include
Higher yield with < 2% erucic acid
Relatively shorter duration of the crop
Perceived as a healthy cooking medium having less than 2 per cent
erucic acid.
Demand as livestock feed as oil meal contains less than 30
micromoles glucosinolates per gram of defatted meal

8. Genetically Modified Canola oil

9. Physical properties and Composition

10. S – saturated U- unsaturated

11. Canola oil processing
Harvest seeds
Pressing
Pressing
Crude vegetable oils
By-product (meal used
for stock feed)
Oil extraction

12. Blending
Colour removal
Odour removal
Refined edible oils Bottled oils
Oil Refining
Spreads production

13. Applications of Canola Oil
Canola oil is a common ingredient in food products, such as
mayonnaise, salad dressings, and margarine.
Used as salad oil for it’s light colour and texture
Plant-sourced oils like canola oil, once processed, can also
be used industrially to formulate lubricants, oils, fuels, soaps,
paints, plastics, cosmetics, and ink.
Canola and wheat are also used for the production of
ethanol, a component of gasohol (gasoline and ethanol).
Canola seeds can also be used as biodiesel.

14. Used in baking industry (reduces the saturated
fatty acid intake, modifies the texture of baked
product by making it more moist and softer)
Some reports show that canola oil, along with
soybean oil, is used as active ingredients in pesticide
products due to their high effectiveness in eliminating
insects.

15. Some of the key factors that drive up the costs for these modified oils are
Lack of competitive field yields : Most modified oilseeds provide only
about 85 to 95% of the yield potential of the regular oilseed variety.
Identity preservation systems : Separate handling systems are required
at every stage, including seed handling, planting, growing, harvesting,
transportation, storage, extraction, and final processing.
Low trait stability : Environmental effects have caused inconsistent oil
compositions in modified oilseed products.