Improvement of brassica oilseeds through modern biotechnological approaches

Pakistan is chronically deficient in the production of edible oils. So much so that 3/4 (three fourth) of the country's requirements are met through imports, costing huge amounts in foreign exchange. The total edible-oil requirements of Pakistan for 1999-2000 stands at 2 million tons. The rest was imported on heavy foreign exchange cost of US dollars 800 million/year (Anonymous, 2000). One disturbing aspect of this critical issue is an annual increase in the gap between consumption and domestic production of edible oils. The different uses of rapeseed have given rise to specialized cultivars, and it is important to differentiate between the three principal types viz. seed quality, high erucic acid (HEAR), and canola. The term Canola refers to seed or seed-products with less than 2% erucic acid in the oil and less than 30 macro mol/g meal of aliphatic glucosinolates. (author)