Where Is the Origin of Canola Oil & Rapeseed Oil?
Canola is a name applied to edible oilseed rape. This plant belongs to the mustard family along with 3,000 other species. Close relatives of this crop have been cultivated for food since the earliest recordings of man. Rapeseed has been important to Europe since the 13th century as a source of food and oil for fuel. Oilseed rapes were recorded in use in India about 2000 to 1500 B.C. Rapeseed plants grows well in relatively low temperatures, with less heat required for successful reproduction than other oilseed crops. Therefore, rapeseed was one of the very few oil sources that could be successfully grown in temperate climates. Rape was introduced to Japan from China or the Korean Peninsula over 2000 years ago. Its production became popular in North America during World War II as a source of lubricant. Its oil has the property of adhering well to moist metal, making it an ideal lubricant for marine engines.
In the 1960s – 1970s, Canadian scientists created canola by conventional breeding rapeseed plants. The idea was to eliminate the undesirable properties of rapeseed oil and create a new plant with a better nutritional profile. The term canola is a contraction of ‘Canadian’ and ‘ola.’ The name "canola" was registered in 1979 by the Western Canadian Oilseed Crushers Association to describe "double-low" varieties.