Quality of western Canadian canola 2010

• Previous page
• Table of contents
•  

Fatty acid composition

The average level of erucic acid in the 2010 crop was 0.01% identical to last year average (0.01%), similar to the five-year average (0.04%) and well below the ten-year average (0.08%). This is also a direct result of the breeding efforts of the Canadian canola industry.

For Canola, No. 1 Canada samples the mean a-linolenic acid (C18:3) was 10.0% equal the mean observed in 2009 (10.0%) and for the five‑year mean. The α-linolenic acid mean in Alberta (10.5%) was  slightly higher than in Saskatchewan (10.0%) and Manitoba (9.4%).

For Canola, No. 1 Canada samples the mean oleic acid (C18:1) content of the 2010 crop was 62.2%, identical to the average observed in 2009 (62.2%). In average, oleic acid content was much higher in Manitoba than in Saskatchewan and Alberta.

In 2010, there was also a similar average for linoleic acid (C18:2) when compare to 2009 (18.9 versus 18.8%). These similar averages results for oleic aicd, linoleic acid and α-linolenic acid resulted in a similar iodine value when compare to 2009.

The mean level of saturated fatty acids was 6.85% in 2010, similar to the 2009 value of 6.8%. The mean saturated fatty acid levels were slightly different of the three provinces in 2010 (7.0, 6.9 and 6.7% for Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta, respectively). Usually, samples from the southern prairies have significantly higher saturated fatty acids than samples from the northern regions.

For Canola, No. 1 Canada samples, the mean iodine value of the oil was 113.8 units similar to last year results  (113.7 units).

The October 2010 data showed that the α-linolenic acid mean for Canola No. 1 Canada exports was 10.1 %, slightly higher than the 2009-2010 export mean (9.8%). At 114.3 units, the iodine value for December  2010 canola exports increased by 1 units from the 2009-10 levels. The level of saturated fatty acids in the December 2010 canola exports remained very similar to the 2009-2010 means (6.6% versus 6.8%). It is expected that the levels of erucic acid will remain constant during the 2009-2010 shipping season, between 0.03% and 0.05%, well below 0.1%. It is likely that there will be no significant change in average for export canola shipments regarding iodine value, erucic acid, oleic acid and a-linolenic acid contents for the 2010-2011 shipping season.

Fatty acid composition of 2010 harvest survey samples, by grade and province

	Relative fatty acid composition of the oil1 (%)					Total saturates2	Iodine value3
	C18:0	C18:1	C18:2	C18:3	C21:1
1 Percentage of total fatty acids including: Palmitic (C16:0), Palmitoleic (C16:1), Stearic (C18:0), Oleic (C18:1), Linoleic (C18:2), Linolenic (C18:3), Arachidic (C20:0), Eicosenoic (C20:1), Eicosadienoic (C20:2), Behenic (C22:0), Erucic (C22:1), and lignoceric (C24:0)
2 Total saturated fatty acids are the sum of palmitic (C16:0), stearic (C18:0), arachidic (C20:0), behenic (C22:0), and lignoceric (C24:0)
3 Calculated from fatty acid composition
4 Includes part of the Peace River area that is in British Columbia
5 Values are weighted averages based on production by province as estimated by Statistics Canada
Canola, No. 1 Canada
MB	1.86	62.98	18.68	9.41	0.00	6.99	112.5
SK	1.77	62.11	18.94	10.05	0.00	6.87	114.0
AB4	1.68	61.75	18.89	10.54	0.03	6.67	114.9
Western Canada5	1.77	62.25	18.86	10.00	0.01	6.85	113.8
Canola, No. 2 Canada
MB	1.79	61.58	19.53	9.61	0.00	7.13	113.5
SK	1.64	59.38	20.13	11.34	0.00	6.88	117.2
AB4	1.61	60.01	19.78	11.20	0.00	6.76	116.7
Western Canada5	1.65	60.01	19.88	11.00	0.00	6.87	116.4
Canola, No. 3 Canada
MB	1.79	60.50	20.09	9.87	0.00	7.27	114.3
SK	1.63	59.16	20.54	11.04	0.00	6.98	116.9
AB4	1.58	58.21	20.63	11.69	0.00	6.94	118.1
Western Canada5	1.61	58.77	20.56	11.30	0.00	6.97	117.4
Canola, Sample Canada
Western Canada5	1.69	59.68	20.17	10.72	0.00	7.12	115.9

Canola, No. 1 Canada - Erucic acid content of harvest survey samples, 2000–2010

Canola, No. 1 Canada - α-Linolenic acid content of harvest survey samples, 2000–2010

Canola, No. 1 Canada - Oleic acid content of harvest survey samples, 2000–2010

Canola, No. 1 Canada - Saturated fatty acid content of harvest survey samples, 2000–2010

• Previous page
• Table of contents
•