The use of sustainable palm oil and rapeseed oil

Palm oil

Palm oil comes from the oil palm, or Elaeis guineensis. The oil is extracted from orange-red palm fruits that are about 5 centimeters in size. They are together with hundreds in a dense, 25-pound heavy truss. An oil palm supplies about 3.6 tonnes of fruit per hectare. This corresponds with 4.000 litres of oil. The yield per hectare of palm oil is significantly higher than that of other oil crops such as rapeseed oil and sunflower oil, palm oil is therefore usually much cheaper than other vegetable oils. An oil palm can provide fruit the whole year for 30 years.

Palm oil is refined or fractionated (filtered) so that different products are created, like:

Palm 37

This palm oil is in it’s natural form. At room temperature (20°C) is the largest portion of the oil solidified. Sonneveld uses this oil as a filler for pastes. It is not possible to form a paste with only palm 37. Such a paste is very hard at 10°C and at 37°C, almost completely melted. That’s why there is always a combination made with other oils and fats.

Palm stearine

By filtering the palm 37 at a given temperature the solidified crystals will be separated from the still-liquid oil. These solidified crystals form the hard phase of the palm oil and are mentioned as palm stearine. Palm stearine remains solid above 37°C and can therefore be used to give a paste a “body” at higher storage temperatures.

Palm olein

The liquid fraction of palm oil, is the olein fraction. Palm olein is very important for Sonneveld. This oil is in solution mainly used against carbonisation of baking tins. Unfortunately, palm olein still contains a few percent hard fraction. This causes that the oil at temperatures below 10°C is determined. That is why with release agents, mixtures from palm olein with, for example, rapeseed oil or sunflower oil are used.

Sustainability

The building of palm oil plantations in countries like Malaysia and Indonesia leads to deforestation and pollution of the environment. The estimated annual deforestation for palm oil plantations is estimated at almost 15 million hectares. Because the demand for palm oil will double the next 15 years, it is absolutely necessary to cultivate sustainable oil.

That’s why Sonneveld is a member of the: ‘Roundtable on Responsible Palm Oil’ (RPSO). RSPO is a global organisation that stimulates the use of sustainable palm oil and pays attention to the social conditions.

Rapeseed oil

In contrast to what people might expect, the rapeseed oil of Sonneveld is not made of pure rapeseed but from canola or crossings of different canola plants.

Canola is extracted from the Brassica napus. A plant from the family where cabbage, radish and mustard belong. Rapeseed, however, is extracted from Brassica rapa. Both the Brassica napus and Brassica rapa are known to everyone in the Netherlands because they often grow along roadsides and ditch sides. All these plants are wild crops.

Differences between canola- and rapeseed plants

The differences between the canola plants and rapeseed plants are very small and they are usually all called canola. Real wild cabbage is very rare in the Netherlands and occurs as the Brassica oleracae especially in the dunes.

Rapeseed- or canola oil

Previously, in the Netherlands mainly oil from rapeseed is used. In the 19th century there were, in the Netherlands, dozens of rapeseed oil refineries where rapeseed oil was refined into oil patent. This patent oil was mostly used in lamps.

Nowadays the terms rapeseed and canola oil are used interchangeably. This may cause confusion because the surrounding countries also use different names:

Table: Names for rapeseed and rapeseedoil in other countries

Canola

English people often call rapeseed oil, Canola oil for marketing reasons “Rape” has a negative connotation in English. Real canola oil has a different fatty acid composition and is not the same as rapeseed oil. canola stands for Canadian oil low acid and is not used in Europe because it is pressed of genetically engineered seeds.

Globally, around 7 million tonnes of canola oil are produced. Most of this is used as cooking oil or margarine. Additionally canola oil is increasingly being used to produce biodiesel. China and Canada are the largest producers of canola, while in Europe it is Germany and France lead production.

Rapeseed oil the most important for Sonneveld

For Sonneveld, rapeseed oil is the most important oil. Each year, we use large quantities of rapeseed oil in various applications. It is utilized in release agents, liquids, pastes, and for our Proson brand. Additionally, it is used in the powder factory to reduce dust from powders.

Vegetable oil

The advantages of rapeseed oil include it’s relatively low price combined with several favorable product properties. Rapeseed oil has a high smoke point of 235˚C, making it highly suitable as a raw material for release agents. Additionally, it offers a good balance of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, making it healthier than, for example, soybean oil. Rapeseed oil remains liquid at low temperatures, ensuring that shortenings and liquids stay fluid even in cold storage. Although vegetable oil prices are expected to continue rising, rapeseed oil will remain one of the most important raw materials for Sonneveld.