Production of Low‐Glucosinolate Rapeseed Meals

Defatted meals were prepared from conventional rapeseed, B. napus, Diamant, and from two new varieties of rapeseed, B. napus, Erglu and Lesira by the following processes: 1) Successive extraction or countercurrent extraction of myrosinase‐deactivated ground rapeseed with 70% aqueous acetone for the removal of glucosinolates followed by defatting using pure acetone; 2) Autolysis of ground rapeseed by the action of heat, moisture and myrosinase for the decomposition of glucosinolates followed by defatting using hexane with simultaneous removal of the decomposition products of glucosinolates. Both processes yield low‐glucosinolate rapeseed meals having favorable nutritional properties. Especially, the process involving autolysis is simple and inexpensive in which practically none of the proteins are lost. This process can be easily adapted to the conventional processing of rapeseed.