Canada’s canola industry generates $43.7 billion in economic activity each year, according to the Canola Council of Canada. Canola oil is currently the primary output, but researchers from the University of Saskatchewan (USask) are exploring new ways to get even more value from this hybrid plant developed in the 1970s.
Runrong Yin is a graduate student in USask’s College of Engineering; Edgar Martinez Soberanes conducted this research as part of his PhD (engineering) and now works in USask’s College of Agriculture and Bioresources. They used the Canadian Light Source (CLS) at USask to analyze a new processing technique that could enable companies to make better use of all parts of canola seeds.
A canola seed consists of an outer hull that tightly encases an inner kernel. During standard canola processing, the entire seed is crushed to produce oil and a mixture (called meal) that contains the hull and the protein. The meal is either used as low-quality feed for cattle or is disposed of as waste. However, if the hull and kernel can be separated first, it creates opportunities for more primary products from canola besides just oil.
As much as 30 per cent of the canola kernel is protein, which could be used as a source of plant-based protein for humans, according to Martinez Soberanes. “My colleague has used canola meal to make high-protein crackers, but it could be used in many other foods too,” he says. “I can picture it in a variety of products on grocery store shelves.”
Canola protein could also be used as a high-quality feed for more animals, such as fish and poultry. The canola hull also has valuable omega-7 oils. “About $5 could buy you a kilogram of canola oil, but for canola hull oil you’d need to pay $7,000,” says Yin. The hull must be separated from the kernel to generate this valuable oil, a challenge given how tightly the hull is wrapped around the kernel.
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