Quality of western Canadian canola 2022

Glucosinolate content

The mean total glucosinolate content of canola seeds at 8.5% moisture and the calculated mean total glucosinolate content of canola meal (after oil removal) at 8.5% moisture from 2000 to 2022 are presented in Figure 12a and Figure 12b, respectively.

In 2022, canola No. 1 seeds (Table 2) had a mean glucosinolate content of 12 micromoles per gram of seeds (μmol/g), higher than the 2021 mean of 11 μmol/g of seeds and the 5-year mean of 10 μmol/g of seeds. This is the highest mean glucosinolate content since 2015 (Figure 12a). Saskatchewan CAR No. 12 (Saskatchewan S012) and Alberta crop district No. 1 (Alberta 1) had the highest total glucosinolate content at 18 μmol/g of seeds.

The December 2022 and the August to November 2022 CC canola exports had a mean total glucosinolate content of 10 μmol/g of seed, which is slightly lower than last year’s shipping season (11 μmol/g; Table 4).

In 2022, 12 μmol/g of total glucosinolates in seed corresponded to 21 μmol/g total glucosinolates in oil-free meal on an 8.5% moisture basis (Table 1). This is higher than both the 5-year mean (19 μmol/g) and the 2021 harvest mean (20 μmol/g) (Figure 12b and Table 1). Total glucosinolates in Canadian canola meal obtained from conventional crushing plants (expeller press followed by solvent extraction) is much lower than this calculated value. The calculated values assume that 100% of the oil is recovered from the seed during crushing and that no glucosinolates are destroyed during processing, which is never the case.

Research done in Australia showed that for canola, the total glucosinolate content for a given variety can be affected by environmental conditions. It was found that hot and dry conditions post flowering led to an increase in glucosinolate content in the seeds. In 2022, both Alberta 1 and Saskatchewan S012 experienced severe to extreme drought at the beginning of the growing season and severe drought at the end of the growing season (Figure 4). Figure 5 also shows that there were a significant number of days with temperatures over 30°C in August in Alberta and parts of Saskatchewan. It is likely that heat and lack of moisture were responsible for the increase in total glucosinolates observed this year.