market for rapeseed oil, mainly for industrial processes because of its high heat stability and for specialty foods, the world trend is to increase the production of canola‐quality seeds (Daun 2015). Global rapeseed production is forecast to rise 3.9 Mt on the strength of a 9% increase in are harvested and an increased production in Canada, Ukraine, India, the EU, and the US (USDA 2017).
1.2.9 Sesame Seeds and Sesame Oil
Sesame (Sesamum indicum L.) is considered as one of the world's major oilseeds and one of the most ancient crops cultivate by humans (Wan et al. 2015). The origin of sesame has been a matter of discussion for more than a century, but it is now widely accepted that domestication occurred on the Indian subcontinent (Bedigian 2010a). Sesame seeds were a major oilseed in the ancient world mainly because of their stability, resistance to drought, and their high oil content. Currently, sesame is grown in varied environments from semiarid tropics and subtropics to temperate regions. World area harvested with sesame in 2017 was calculated as 9.98 Mha, most of it in African and Asian countries (Figure 1.1). During the last decades, world production of sesame seeds has increased steadily Total world production of sesame seed in 2018 was estimated to be 5.53 Mt, most of it being cultivated in Asia (39.7%) and Africa (56.9%). Top five sesame seed producers during 2018 were the United Republic of Tanzania, Myanmar, India, Nigeria, and Sudan, with an estimated production of 805.7, 764.3, 751.0, 550.0, and 550.0 kt respectively. On average, 70% of the worlds' sesame seeds are consumed within producer countries, leaving an approximately 30% excess for global trade (Bedigian 2010b). Major sesame seed exporters during 2016 were Ethiopia, India, Sudan, Nigeria, and Burkina Faso with approximately 382.0, 325.9, 258.54, 172.8, and 159.8 kt respectively. Approximately 65% of the sesame seeds harvested are dedicated for oil production while only 35% are consumed as a food ingredient (Wan et al. 2015). Global sesame oil production was estimated to be 1.63 Mt in 2014. Major sesame oil producers in 2014 were the United Republic of Tanzania, Myanmar, China, India, and Japan with an annual production of 544.3, 318.0, 234.0, 108.0, and 45.44 kt respectively. The top five sesame oil exporters during 2016 were Mexico, Ghana, India, and Japan. In turn, major sesame oil importers were the US, the UK, Australia, Taiwan, and Vietnam with approximately 16.39, 3.52, 3.24, 3.18, and 3.08 kt imported during 2016 respectively.
Figure 1.4 Rapeseed oil: Production and trade. Abbreviations: CR, Czech Republic; US, United States of America.
Source: Data accessed on April 8, 2019 from FAOSTAT, available at http://www.fao.org/faostat.
1.2.10 Soybean
The soybean (Glycine max L.) or soya bean is a legume native to East Asia, widely cultivated for its edible bean. It is thought that domestication of soybean started in China between 7000 and 6600 BCE, in Japan between 5000 and 3000 BCE, and in Korea in approximately 1000 BCE (Lee et al. 2011). Currently, cultivation of soybean is successful in climates with hot summers, with optimum growing conditions in mean temperatures of 20–30 °C. Soybean is a globally important crop used for the production of soybean meal and soybean oil, which is used in a large variety of processed foods, some of them listed in Table 1.1.
While soybeans are produced around the world, production and exports are dominated by the America's. The production of soybeans will continue to grow strongly in Latin America, with Argentina and Paraguay producing 66 Mt and 12 Mt by 2027 (FAO 2018). Soybean production is also expected to increase in Ukraine, Russian Federation, and several countries in Africa (FAO 2018). In the EU, the area harvested increased from 0.27 Mha in 2008 to 0.98 Mha in 2018, representing an average annual increase of 36.3% (European Commission 2019). These increased production will result in an estimated 360.6 Mt of soybean produced during 2018/2019, led by the US, Brazil, and Argentina with a forecasted production of 123.7, 117.0, and 55.0 Mt (USDA 2019b). However, soybean production in the US is estimated to decrease by approximately 1.52 Mt for the period 2018/2019 (USDA 2019b) and by 2027, it is expected that Brazil will overtake North America as the world's largest exporter of soybean with a 41.8% rise in its share in the global soybean exports (FAO 2018). The 2018/2019 global soybean outlook of the USDA includes a 1.7 Mt reduction in soybean exports from Brazil, Uruguay, and Paraguay, which are partially offset by the above mentioned higher exports for Argentina. Indeed, the highly developed crushing industry in Argentina, together with a small domestic market, and a lower export tax on processed commodities than on unprocessed commodities favors the export of soybean oil and meal from Argentina.
Soybeans are not only used as a protein source but also for producing soybean oil. Soybean oil is the sixth most produced commodity within the “processed crops” classification of FAOSTAT, surpassed by beer of barley, sugar, molasses, palm oil, and cottonseed. Figure 1.5 shows the world production of soybean oil during 2014.
World production of soybean was calculated as 45.7 Mt, the major producers being China, the US, Brazil, and Argentina with 11.7, 9.7, 7.4, and 7.1 Mt, respectively (UN 2019). Soybean oil trade is expected to further expand mainly due to India's growing demand (USDA 2017).
1.2.11 Sunflower
The common name sunflower refers to the popular annual species Helianthus annuus L., grown as food crops for humans, cattle, and poultry or as ornamental plants. The oil content of sunflower seeds is around 50% (w/w) (Salas et al. 2015). Sunflower seeds are crushed for oil recovery via either hard pressing or prepress solvent extraction. The former relies on exerting high pressure on the seeds to separate the oil from the solid fraction obtaining recovery yields close to 25% (Williams 2005). In turn, the latter relies on exerting medium pressure followed by solvent extraction and allows recovering approximately 40% of the seed’s oil (Le Chef and Kemper 2015). Crude sunflower oil contains several impurities which are removed by degumming, to remove phosphatides, chemical neutralization to remove free fatty acids and residual phosphatides, and bleaching, which aims at removing colored compounds such as chlorophylls and carotenes. Other processes which include dewaxing and deodorization generally by stripping under vacuum with steam at elevated temperatures are also applied (Dijkstra 2015).
Figure 1.5 Soybean oil: Production and trade. Abbreviation: US, United States of America.
Source: Data accessed on April 8, 2019 from FAOSTAT, available at http://www.fao.org/faostat.
Sunflower grows better at temperate (20–25 °C) and dry climates with high irradiation and deep soils (Salas et al. 2015). Argentina was the biggest sunflower seed and oil producer until the late twentieth century, when it was surpassed by Ukraine and Russia after important economic and technological reforms (Feoll and Ingaramo 2015). Currently, over 75% of the sunflower oil commercialized worldwide is made in Europe (Figure 1.6). The total area dedicated to cultivate sunflower seeds increased from 3.79 Mha in 2008 to 4.17 Mha in 2018, representing an average 11.3% annual increase (European Commission 2019).
