Influence of genetics, environment and admixtures on low erucic acid rapeseed in Canada

Single plant isolates in theBrassica napus andBrassica campestris species of rapeseed yielded glyceride oil containing small amounts of erucic acid. Agronomically suitable varieties were grown commercially in 1971 as the first phase in a changeover of Canadian rapeseed production from varieties with erucic contents of 20–45% to low erucic acid varieties. A program to monitor the erucic content by gas chromatographic analysis in the stages of production, handling and transportation from seed to export shipment was undertaken to evaluate the effects of genetics, environment and admixture. The individual increase in erucic content ranged from 0.5 to 1.0, resulting in total increases of 1–2%.