Oilseeds

Oilseeds are plants from different families whose fruits or parts of plants can be used to produce oil. The end product is used as cooking oil, fuel and for technical purposes. Oil fruits often have a second use: the oil cake produced when the oil is pressed out is processed into protein feed. In Europe, rapeseed, sunflowers, flax, pumpkin, mustard and olives are the main crops grown for this purpose. In terms of tonnes produced, palm oil is the world’s most important oil fruit, although soybeans cover by far the largest area. After soy and palm oil come coconuts, peanuts, cotton and sesame. Oil fruits are mostly grown in the tropics on large areas, often at the expense of the rainforest. Vegetable oils containing monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids are essential for a healthy diet.