56 / SEEDWORLD.COM FEBRUARY 2018 THE CANOLA INDUSTRY has truly been transformed in recent years with the introduction of high oleic varieties, but canola breeders are not sitting on their laurels — especially with high oleic soybeans on the horizon. In the wake of trans fats and hydrogenated oils being phased out in the global food industry, the creation of high oleic (HO) canola oil, with its low saturated fat content (about 7 percent) and some omega fatty acids, was very timely. These days, HO oil is used extensively by food product manufacturers and fast food chains, highly prized for its clean flavor and the way it leaves food textures unchanged. It is also an extremely stable oil that can be used for frying over a long period of time. While there isn’t a strong industry focus on further enhanc- ing the oil profile of HO canola according to Curtis Rempel, vice president of crop production and innovation at the Canola Council of Canada, there is a little breeding activity still happen- ing. Cargill, for example, has been developing an HO canola oil with a very low level of saturated fat, about 4.5 percent. The firm’s canola R&D director, Lorin Debonte, says it has a mono- saturated fat profile similar to that olive oil. For its part, Monsanto says it’s relatively new to the HO arena and is currently finalizing its long-term plans. Where the HO canola breeding focus seems to lie these days is in efforts to defend it against the possible introduction of HO soybean varieties in Canada. It’s all about adding better resistance to disease, lower pod shatter rates and making other improvements to existing HO canola varieties, says Rempel, “to make sure they are the best-performing, agronomically.” Dow AgroSciences, for example, is working to improve its locally adapted HO canola varieties, making yield and resistance to clubroot and blackleg as high as possible, says the company’s grains & oils commercial leader, David Dzisiak. He points out that there is still a high potential for HO canola to further displace soybean oil and corn oil use in many food applications. “Ten years ago, there was only about 2 billion pounds of canola oil used by the North American food industry and today it’s 4.5 billion pounds,” Dzisiak explains. “The demand for oils to make more ready-to-eat foods and snacks is not slowing down.” HO soybeans have been grown in the U.S. now for many years, and acreage will likely range from 1 to 2 million acres in 2018, says Phil Kerr, president of food industry consulting firm SERIO Nutrition Solutions in St. Louis, Missouri. He says indus- try estimates suggest that within the next five years or so, HO soybean acreage could rival the acreage of all of the canola produced in Canada in 2017. The two major variety lines that will be grown in the central U.S. region in 2018 are DuPont Pioneer’s Plenish and Monsanto’s Vistive Gold. Kerr says “their oleic acid profile composition is quite similar to HO oils from canola and other HO oilseeds, yet HO soybean oils offer improved flavour stability and the potential for lower price.” He notes that it’s taken about 20 years to commercialize HO soybeans due to both long regulatory timelines for GM soybeans and the need for the U.S. food industry to urgently address the government order to stop using hydrogenated oils. “This led to substantial efforts to reformulate oils through blending of oils to Demand for canola oil has skyrocketed with the introduction of high oleic varieties some years ago, but will high oleic soybeans give it a run for its money? Treena Hein treenahein@outlook.com In the wake of trans fats and hydrogenated oils being phased out in the global food industry, the creation of high oleic canola oil, with its low saturated fat content and some Omega fatty acids, was very timely. Is the Next Oil War Imminent?