Canola is an oil seed plant belonging to the Brassicaceae plant family. The plant grows yellow flowers which produce seed pods that are about 5 centimetres in length. There is an average of 60 to 100 pods per plant. Each seed pod contains 20 to 30 tiny, round seeds which are 1 mm. in diameter. When it is ready to harvest, the plant changes colour from green to light yellow. These tiny seeds are crushed to extrude canola oil used in cooking. A by-product of the crushing process is a protein-rich meal that is used for stockfeed. Canola is the third largest crop produced in Australia, behind wheat and barley. Australia produces about 2 million tonnes of canola annually.
