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Home >> Plant Biotechnology and Genomics >> Genetically Modified-GM Crops and Floricultural Plants >> By Products from Oil Seed Crops


By-products from oil-seed crops


Several by-products are produced either during oil extraction or during the industrial uses of oil-seeds: (i) Protein-rich meal is produced during oil extraction from oil seed with anti-nutritional agents like glucosinolates. The demand for this meal for animal feed has increased.

There is a hope that glucosinolate metabolism can be manipulated to improve the nutritional value of this meal. Such an improvement may be essential, because it may not be economically viable to grow rapeseed for industrial use alone, unless protein-rich meal obtained as a by-product can find a ready market.

(ii) Glycerine is produced as a by-product during the industrial uses of oil seed for the manufacture of detergents, polymers and biodiesel. The availability of glycerine in increased quantities in world market led to the development of its new uses (e.g., soft drinks, fabric conditioners, de-icing and drilling fluids).

This has also led to an increased demand for glycerine. (iii) Oleosins are proteins that surround oil-storage bodies in seeds as monomolecular layers. These proteins have been re-engineered to act as carriers of pharmaceutical peptides such as thrombin or hirudin. which are thus targeted to oil bodies and can be easily separated from oil bodies.

Several industrial enzymes (e.g., cellulases, proteases, lipases, etc) can also be targeted to oil bodies in a similar manner. This technology is being developed in Canada and will allow simultaneous recovery of the novel peptides/proteins of interest along with seed oil and protein-rich meal.

 

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