Rapeseed oil

In contrast to what people might expect, the rapeseed oil of Sonneveld is not made ​​of pure rapeseed but from coleseed or crossings of different coleseed plants.

Coleseed is extracted from the Brassica napus. A plant from the family where cabbage, radish and mustard belong. Rapeseed, however, is extracted from Brassica rapa. Both the Brassica napus and Brassica rapa are known to everyone in the Netherlands because they often grow along roadsides and ditch sides. All these plants are wild crops.

Differences

The differences between the coleseed plants and rapeseed plants are very small and they are usually all called coleseed. Real wild cabbage is very rare in the Netherlands and occurs as the Brassica oleracae especially in the dunes.

Rapeseed oil or coleseed oil

Previously, in the Netherlands mainly oil from rapeseed (is "real" rape oil) is used. In the 19th century there were, in the Netherlands, dozens of rapeseed oil refineries where rape oil was refined into oil patent. This patentoil was mostly used in lamps.

Nowadays the terms rapeseed and coleseed oil are used interchangeably. This may cause confusion because the surrounding countries also use different names:

Language	Brassica napans	Oil of the seeds of the Brassica napans
Dutch	Coleseed	Coleseedolie
English	Rapeseed or Rape	Rapeseedoil
French	Colza	Huile de Colza
German	Raps	Rapsöl

Table: Names for rapeseed and rapeseedoil in other countries

Canola

English people often call coleseed oil Canola oil. This is done for marketing reasons. "Rape" has a negative connotation in English. Real Canola oil has a different fatty acid composition and is not the same as coleseed oil. Canola stands for Canadian oil low acid and is not used in Europe because it is pressed of genetically engineered seeds.

Globally, around 7 million tonnes of coleseed oil is produced. Most of this is used as cooking oil or margarine. Even coleseed oil is increasingly used to make biodiesel. China and Canada are the largest producers of coleseed. In Europe it is Germany and France that are the largest producers.

Rapeseed oil the most important for Sonneveld

For Sonneveld rapeseed oil is the most important oil. Each year we use large quantities of rapeseed oil. We use it in release agents, liquids, pastes and for our brand Proson. Next to that it is used in the powder factory to reduce the dusting from powders.

Vegetable oil

The advantages of rapeseed oil are the relatively low price in combination with a number of favourable product properties. Rapeseed oil starts smoking at 235˚C, that’s why it is very suitable as a raw material for release agents. Rapeseed oil also has a good ratio in omega 3 and omega 6 fatty acids, so that rapeseed oil is healthier than, for example soybean oil. The oil will remain liquid at low temperatures so that shortening and liquids are, in spite of a cold storage, still liquid. Although the prices of vegetable oil will keep rising, for Sonneveld rapeseed oil will remain one of the major raw materials.