Camelina oil

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Camelina oil or False flax oil is a pressed seed oil, derived from the Camelina sativa or false flax, also called gold of pleasure. False flax has long been grown in Europe, and its oil used as a lamp oil until the 18th century. In recent times, it has been explored for use in cosmetic and skin care products. [1] It has a high content of omega-3 and is used as a food supplement by some cultures. It is registered under the name "Olej rydzowy tradycyjny" as a Traditional Speciality Guaranteed product in the European Union [2] and the United Kingdom. [3]

In the United States the Food and Drug Administration has not rated the oil for human consumption. False flax belongs to the Brassicaceae (mustard and cabbage) family, which also contains many other seed oil plants, such as rapeseed. Typically it contains 1–3% erucic acid but several Camelina Sativa varieties with erucic acid content of less than 1% have been introduced. [4]

The seeds contain an average of 37% by weight of oil, and contains the following fatty acids: [5]

Component Percentage Category
Alpha-linolenic (ALA, 18:3)35–42%Polyunsaturated, omega-3
Oleic (18:1)12–27%Monounsaturated
Linoleic (18:2)16–25%Polyunsaturated, omega-6
Gadoleic (20:1)9–17%Monounsaturated
Palmitic (16:0)3–8%Saturated
Stearic (18:0)2–3%Saturated

Related Research Articles

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α-Linolenic acid, also known as alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), is an n−3, or omega-3, essential fatty acid. ALA is found in many seeds and oils, including flaxseed, walnuts, chia, hemp, and many common vegetable oils.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vegetable oil</span> Oil extracted from seeds or from other parts of plants

Vegetable oils, or vegetable fats, are oils extracted from seeds or from other parts of edible plants. Like animal fats, vegetable fats are mixtures of triglycerides. Soybean oil, grape seed oil, and cocoa butter are examples of seed oils, or fats from seeds. Olive oil, palm oil, and rice bran oil are examples of fats from other parts of plants. In common usage, vegetable oil may refer exclusively to vegetable fats which are liquid at room temperature. Vegetable oils are usually edible.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rapeseed</span> Plant species grown for its oil-rich seed

Rapeseed, also known as rape and oilseed rape, is a bright-yellow flowering member of the family Brassicaceae, cultivated mainly for its oil-rich seed, which naturally contains appreciable amounts of erucic acid. The term "canola" denotes a group of rapeseed cultivars that were bred to have very low levels of erucic acid and which are especially prized for use as human and animal food. Rapeseed is the third-largest source of vegetable oil and the second-largest source of protein meal in the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Linseed oil</span> Oil obtained from the dried, ripened seeds of the flax plant

Linseed oil, also known as flaxseed oil or flax oil, is a colourless to yellowish oil obtained from the dried, ripened seeds of the flax plant. The oil is obtained by pressing, sometimes followed by solvent extraction.

Erucic acid is a monounsaturated omega-9 fatty acid, denoted 22:1ω9. It has the chemical formula: CH3(CH2)7CH=CH(CH2)11CO2H. It is prevalent in wallflower seed and other plants in the family Brassicaceae, with a reported content of 20 to 54% in high erucic acid rapeseed oil and 42% in mustard oil. Erucic acid is also known as cis-13-docosenoic acid and the trans isomer is known as brassidic acid.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hemp oil</span> Oil from hemp seeds

Hemp oil is oil obtained by pressing hemp seeds. Cold pressed, unrefined hemp oil is dark to clear light green in color, with a nutty flavor. The darker the color, the grassier the flavour. It should not be confused with hash oil, a tetrahydrocannabinol-containing oil made from the Cannabis flower.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mustard oil</span> Oil derived from mustard plants

Mustard oil can mean either the pressed oil used for cooking, or a pungent essential oil also known as volatile oil of mustard. The essential oil results from grinding mustard seed, mixing the grounds with water, and isolating the resulting volatile oil by distillation. It can also be produced by dry distillation of the seed. Pressed mustard oil is used as cooking oil in some cultures, but sale is restricted in some countries due to high levels of erucic acid. Varieties of mustard seed low in erucic acid have been cultivated.

<i>Camelina</i> Genus of flowering plants in the cabbage family Brassicaceae

Camelina is a genus within the flowering plant family Brassicaceae. The Camelina species, commonly known as false flax, are native to Mediterranean regions of Europe and Asia. Most species of this genus have been little studied, with the exception of Camelina sativa, historically cultivated as an oil plant. Heinrich Johann Nepomuk von Crantz was the first botanist to use the genus Camelina in his classification works in 1762.

<i>Camelina sativa</i> Species of flowering plant

Camelina sativa is a flowering plant in the family Brassicaceae usually known as camelina, gold-of-pleasure, or false flax, but also occasionally as wild flax, linseed dodder, German sesame, or Siberian oilseed. It is native to Europe and areas of Central Asia, but cultivated as an oilseed crop mainly in Europe and in North America. It is not related to true flax, in the family Linaceae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Monoglyceride</span> Class of glycerides

Monoglycerides are a class of glycerides which are composed of a molecule of glycerol linked to a fatty acid via an ester bond. As glycerol contains both primary and secondary alcohol groups two different types of monoglycerides may be formed; 1-monoacylglycerols where the fatty acid is attached to a primary alcohol, or a 2-monoacylglycerols where the fatty acid is attached to the secondary alcohol.

<i>Crambe abyssinica</i> Species of flowering plant

Crambe abyssinica is an annual oilseed crop of the family Brassicaceae. It is mainly cultivated due to the high levels of erucic acid that are contained in its seeds. The crambe oil is used for industrial purposes and its side products can be partly used as animal feed.

Meadowfoam seed oil is a seed oil, extracted from the seeds of Limnanthes species. The seeds contain 20-30% oil. Meadowfoam seed oil is extraordinarily stable, primarily because it contains over 98% long chain fatty acids. Meadowfoam oil is most similar to rapeseed oil, with which it competes directly for the high-volume industrial oilseed applications. Meadowfoam oil is widely used in cosmetic and hair-care applications due to its stability, emolliency and smooth, soft skin feel. The oil in its unpurified form is not suitable for human consumption, primarily because of the high erucic acid content.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sea buckthorn oil</span> Vegetable oil

Sea buckthorn oil is a red-orange oil derived from sea buckthorn plants. The most commonly used species for this purpose is Hippophae rhamnoides. Species belonging to this genus accumulate lipids in the mesocarp, so the oil can be extracted from either the seeds or the pulp.

<i>Thlaspi arvense</i> Species of flowering plant in the cabbage family Brassicaceae

Thlaspi arvense, known by the common name field pennycress, is a flowering plant in the cabbage family Brassicaceae. It is native to Eurasia, and is a common weed throughout much of North America and its home.

Crambe oil is an inedible seed oil, extracted from the seeds of the Crambe abyssinica, a multibranched annual plant that is native to the Ethiopian Highlands also known as Abyssinia. The oil has been shown to consist of 55-60% erucic acid. The Australian Farm Diversification Information Service writes:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sinapine</span> Chemical compound

Sinapine is an alkaloidal amine found in some seeds, particularly oil seeds of plants in the family Brassicaceae. It is the choline ester of sinapic acid.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rapeseed oil</span> Vegetable oil

Rapeseed oil is one of the oldest known vegetable oils. There are both edible and industrial forms produced from rapeseed, the seed of several cultivars of the plant family Brassicaceae. Historically, it was restricted as a food oil due to its content of erucic acid, which in laboratory studies was shown to be damaging to the cardiac muscle of laboratory animals in high quantities and which imparts a bitter taste, and glucosinolates, which made many parts of the plant less nutritious in animal feed. Rapeseed oil from standard cultivars can contain up to 54% erucic acid.

References

  1. Stanislas Crouzier. "Processing false flax (camelina) proteins and oils to be used as base materials in cosmetics and skin care products". Archived from the original on 2005-11-13.
  2. "Olej rydzowy tradycyjny". European Union. Retrieved 30 October 2021.
  3. "Olej rydzowy tradycyjny staropolska". UK Government. Retrieved 30 October 2021.
  4. Sampath, Anusha (2009), "Chemical Characterization of Camelina Seed Oil"
  5. "Gold of Pleasure (pdf)" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2003-04-20.

See also