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National Node of the BCH
Organism
Record information and status
Record ID
12083
Status
Published
Date of creation
2006-04-04 14:51 UTC (kirsty.mclean.consultant@cbd.int)
Date of last update
2018-02-21 21:48 UTC (dina.abdelhakim@cbd.int)
Date of publication
2018-02-21 21:48 UTC (dina.abdelhakim@cbd.int)

Organism information
Scientific name
Brassica napus
Taxonomic Classification
KingdomPlantae
PhylumMagnoliophyta
ClassMagnoliopsida
OrderCapparales
FamilyBrassicaceae
GenusBrassica
SpeciesBrassica napus
Common name(s)
Turnip
Rapeseed
Canola Plant
Oilseed Rape
Rape
BRANA
Additional Classification
Type of organism
Organism domestication
  • Domesticated
Characteristics related to biosafety
Centre(s) of origin
Recent evidence suggests that B. napus has multiple origins, and that most cultivated forms of B. napus were derived from a cross in which a closely related ancestral species of B. rapa and B. oleracea was the maternal donor. B. montana is also possibly a progenitor species of B. napus.
Habitat range
B. napus is grown as a winter annual in regions where winter conditions do not result in very low temperatures, which would kill the plants.
Common use(s)
  • Food
Additional Information
Additional Information
There are two types of B. napus: 1) oil-yielding oleiferous rape, of which one subset with specific quality characteristics is often referred to as "canola" (vernacular name), and 2) the tuber-bearing swede or rutabaga.

Today, two species of Brassica have commercialized varieties with "double low" characteristics, i.e. low erucic acid content in the fatty acid profile and very low glucosinolate content in the meal, characteristics desirable for high-quality vegetable oil and high-quality animal feed.

In North America two species (B. napus and B. rapa) are considered to be of "canola" quality.

See also http://bch.cbd.int/database/record.shtml?documentid=9845 for information onĀ  B. rapa