Over the past few decades, canola has become one of the most important oilseed crops in Canada and across the World. Canola, a contraction of the words “Canadian” and “ola”, meaning oil, belongs to the Brassicaceae (or Cruciferae) family, which includes a wide diversity of plants in its category such as cauliflower, radishes and cabbages. Although the term canola is commonly used, this oilseed plant must meet a certain regulated standard in order to earn its name and be differentiated from rapeseed (Kramer, 1983; Daun, 2011). Canola is officially defined as a "Seed of the genus Brassica (Brassica napus, Brassica rapa or Brassica juncea) from which the oil shall contain less than 2% erucic acid in its fatty acid profile and the solid component …show more content…
Canola and rapeseed also rank second (13% of the total) after soybean (57% of the total), in the world production of oilseeds. In 2013, the Canadian production of canola exceeded 15 million tons per year. In that same year, an extensive study on the economic impact of canola released that the canola industry contributes 19.3 billion dollars per year to the Canadian economy, in addition to 249000 jobs and 12.5 billion dollars in salaries. The canola industry is mainly concentrated in the western provinces: the Saskatchewan industry contributed 8.2 billion dollars to the Canadian economy, followed by Alberta ($6.1 billion) and Manitoba ($3.4 billion). The other major provinces involved in the canola industry are Ontario ($770 million), British Columbia ($432 million) and Quebec ($331 million). Today, Canada exports 90% of its canola as seed, oil or feed to 55 markets around the world. Its main markets are: the United States (over 5.5 million tons of canola seed, oil and meal exported in 2014 worth 3.5$ billion), Mexico ($772.4 million value of exports), China ($2.8 billion), Japan (more than 2 million tons of seed per year exported worth $1.2 billion), India ($15.8 million), the European Union ($38.8 million in imports, mainly using canola oil for use in biodiesel). To cope with this constant increase, the Canadian canola harvested acreage has steadily increased over the past decades (Canola Council of Canada, …show more content…
Several factors affect the quality of canola during storage: seed maturity, seed moisture, temperature, storage time, molds, insects, storage methods, etc. Temperature is particularly important, because it influences enzymatic and biological activities (hence influencing the rate of spoilage), and the mold development (Sinha & al, 1977). After harvest, canola is cooled down as quickly as possible, eventually reaching 5°C. Safe storage is ensured using facilities with a good aeration system; it is recommended that systems like natural-air drying or heated-air drying be used in order to reduce moisture. Aeration must be closely controlled, because there is a strong relationship between the oilseed seed moisture level and relative humidity of air. Bailey has studied this relationship, and determined that at relative humidity of 50%, seeds contain a moisture level of 6%. However, as the relative humidity increases, the moisture level increases as well. For example, a relative humidity of 88% in the ambient air corresponded to a moisture level of 13.9%. Because canola is very sensitive to heating in storage, it requires high quality storage bins, to prevent leakage. Also, roof, door and joint openings must be correctly sealed to avoid losses. Small bins are more efficient than large bins, in order to control a more uniform temperature and moisture migration between the crops. Canola is