Canola breeders will work harder at bringing down saturated fatty acid levels in Argentine varieties.
The canola and rapeseed recommending committee has decided to gradually lower its tolerance for these fatty acids in new cultivars.
The committee is responding to worries in the industry that canola fatty acid levels were rising, damaging its market advantage over vegetable oils like soybean oil.
By the year 2000, new cultivars will have to be lower by .2 percent, and by 2002, they will have to drop again by the same amount, said Dale Burns, a plant breeder with Zeneca Seeds.
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Burns noted fatty acids have risen in canola primarily because of a shift in types. At one time, 45 percent of the prairie canola crop was Polish varieties. Today, it’s less than 10 percent, he said.
Less in Polish
Polish varieties tend to have lower levels of saturated fat than the Argentine family.
Burns hammered out the new rules with Jay Patel from Pioneer Grain and Phillip Raney from Agriculture Canada before they were approved by the larger committee.
“Surprisingly, everyone involved was looking for a way to send the right signal, but in a manageable fashion,” said Burns.
