Investigation report on rapeseed harvesting quality in 2015

In order to master the quality status of newly harvested rapeseed in 2015 and guide all localities to do a good job in purchasing, the State Food Administration organized Jiangsu, Anhui, Jiangxi, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Sichuan and other 7 major rapeseed producing provinces to collect 200 rapeseed samples at the first time after rapeseed harvest according to the national unified sampling and sampling requirements, and carried out centralized inspection on the quality of newly produced rapeseed. The results showed that the quality of newly harvested rapeseed in 2015 was the best in recent years, the oil content was slightly higher than last year, but there were more mold seeds in some areas. The quality of rapeseed harvest is reported as follows:

I. The oil content of newly harvested rapeseed in 2015 is the best in recent years.

200 samples were collected from 7 main rapeseed producing provinces, all of which were mixed samples at village level, involving 93 main producing counties in 44 cities of 7 provinces. The quantity of samples in each region is distributed according to the weight of output, and the detection indexes are the main quality indexes and some internal quality indexes stipulated by the national standards. According to the inspection data, the oil content of rapeseed in each province in 2015 is the best in recent years, all samples are above Grade IV, the average oil content is slightly higher than that of the previous year, and the proportion of medium (Grade III) and above is slightly lower than that of last year, among which the proportion of first-class products is close to 30%.

The test results of all samples in 7 provinces are as follows: the average oil content is 40.6%, which is about 2% higher than that of previous years and slightly higher than that of last year, with a range of 36.0%~47.5%. The proportion of first-class to fourth-class was 29.5%, 30.0%, 26.0% and 14.5% respectively; 85.5% were above medium level, about 0.5 percentage point lower than that of the previous year. The results of fatty acid composition analysis showed that the erucic acid content in all samples did not exceed 3.0%(canola standard, the same below), and the proportion was 31.5%.

2. In some areas, rapeseed has more moldy grains

Except Anhui and Henan provinces, more than 10% of the samples had excessive moldy grain content, and the other 5 provinces had no obvious excessive moldy grain content.

The results of all samples were as follows: the average value of immature grains was 0.6%, and the maximum value was 9.3%, all of which met the standard requirements (≤15.0%); the average value of green bud grains is 0.4%, the maximum value is 13.5%, and the proportion meeting the standard requirements (≤2.0%) is 98.0%; the average value of green mold grains is 1.0%, the maximum value is 91.7%, and the proportion meeting the standard requirements (≤2.0%) is 95.0%; the average value of heat damaged grains is 0.1%, and the maximum value is 0.8%, all meeting the standard requirements (≤2.0%). The average moisture content is 8.7%, with a range of 3.4%~22.8%.

III. Detailed quality status of each province

(I) Jiangsu

25 samples were collected, involving 7 cities and 12 counties (districts). The average oil content is 40.6%, slightly higher than that of the previous year, ranging from 36.6% to 40.6%. The proportion of first-class to fourth-class products was 32.0%, 36.0%, 24.0% and 8.0% respectively; 92.0% were above medium level, an increase of about 25 percentage points over the previous year, among which the second-class products increased by about 30 percentage points. The average value of immature grains was 0.4%, the maximum value was 5.2%, the average value of budding grains was 0.1%, the maximum value was 0.4%, and the average value of mouldy grains was 0.2%, the maximum value was 1.0%. The erucic acid content in all samples was less than 3.0% and the proportion was 48%.

(2) Anhui

30 samples were collected, involving 6 cities and 10 counties (districts). The average oil content was 41.1%, 0.5 percentage points higher than that of the previous year, ranging from 38.1% to 45.5%. The proportion of first-class to third-class is 30.0%, 40.0% and 30.0% respectively, all of which are above medium level, and the proportion of first-class increases obviously. The average value of immature grains was 0.2%, the maximum value was 1.4%, the average value of green buds was 0.5%, the maximum value was 2.6%, the average value of green mold grains was 1.0%, the maximum value was 5.0%, the proportion meeting the standard requirements was 83.3%, and the samples exceeding the standard were mainly concentrated in Xuancheng and Wuhu areas. The erucic acid content in all samples was less than 3.0% and the proportion was 23.3%.

(3) Jiangxi

Fifteen samples were collected, involving 4 cities and 6 counties (districts). The average oil content is 38.8%, which is flat compared with the previous year, with a range of 36.0%~41.2%. The proportion of second-class to fourth-class was 26.7%, 46.7% and 26.6% respectively, with no first-class products; 73.3% were above average, unchanged from the previous year. The average value of immature grains was 0.3%, the maximum value was 2.2%, the average value of budding grains was 1.5%, the maximum value was 13.5%, the average value of mouldy grains was 0.3%, the maximum value was 0.9%. The erucic acid content in all samples was less than 3.0% and the proportion was 33.3%.

(4) Henan

Fifteen samples were collected, involving 6 counties (districts) of Nanyang and Xinyang City. The average oil content was 39.4%, down about 3 percentage points from the previous year, ranging from 46.3% to 41.3%. The proportion of second-class to fourth-class was 33.3%, 40.0% and 26.7% respectively, with no first-class products and 73.3% above medium level, down about 30 percentage points from the previous year. The average value of immature grains was 0.6%, the maximum value was 2.0%, the average value of green buds was 0.2%, the maximum value was 0.6%, the average value of green mold grains was 1.4%, the maximum value was 46.7%, and the proportion meeting the standard requirements was 86.7%. The samples exceeding the standard were mainly concentrated in Gushi County. The erucic acid content in all samples was less than 3.0% and the proportion was 6.7%.

(V) Hubei

45 samples were collected, involving 11 cities and 27 counties (districts). The average oil content is 40.9%, basically the same as that of the previous year, ranging from 36.4% to 47.5%. The proportion of first-class to fourth-class products was 31.1%, 33.3%, 20.0% and 15.6% respectively; 84.4% were above medium level, slightly lower than that of the previous year, and the proportion of first-class products increased. The average value of immature grains was 1.3%, the maximum value was 9.3%, the average value of budding grains was 0.4%, the maximum value was 5.0%, the average value of mouldy grains was 0.6%, the maximum value was 9.9%, and the proportion meeting the standard requirements was 97.8%. The erucic acid content in all samples was less than 3.0% and the proportion was 46.7%.

(vi) Hunan

30 samples were collected, involving 3 cities and 16 counties (districts). The average oil content was 40.2%, 0.4% higher than that of the previous year, ranging from 36.7% to 43.2%. The proportion of first-class to fourth-class was 23.3%, 30.0%, 30.0% and 16.7% respectively; 83.3% were above average, an increase of about 7 percentage points over the previous year. The average value of immature grains was 0.6%, the maximum value was 4.0%, the average value of green buds was 0.3%, the maximum value was 2.4%, and the proportion meeting the standard requirements was 96.7%. The average value of green mold grains was 3.4%, the maximum value was 91.7%, and the proportion meeting the standard requirements was 93.3%. The samples exceeding the standard were mainly concentrated in Changde. The erucic acid content in all samples was less than 3.0% and the proportion was 53.3%.

(7) Sichuan

40 samples were collected, involving 5 cities and 15 counties (districts). The average oil content was 41.3%, 0.7% higher than that of the previous year, ranging from 36.1% to 44.7%. The proportion of first-class to fourth-class products was 52.5%, 15.0%, 15.0% and 17.5% respectively; 82.5% were above medium level, and the proportion of first-class products increased by about 25 percentage points compared with the previous year. The average value of immature grains was 0.4%, the maximum value was 3.6%, all of which met the standard requirements; the average value of green buds was 0.3%, the maximum value was 1.2%; the average value of green mold grains was 0.2%, the maximum value was 0.8%, all of which met the standard requirements. The erucic acid content in all samples was less than 3.0% and the proportion was 2.5%.

IV. Recommendations

Effective measures should be taken in areas where mold particles exceed the standard, strengthen the inspection and control of mold particles in the links of rapeseed purchase, storage and processing, and prevent rapeseed that does not meet the food safety standards from being used for edible oil processing.