Next year, a small line for the industrial production of ecological rapeseed oil with high health properties will be ready, which scientists from the Institute of Agrophysics of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Lublin want to launch.
The oil, intended only for salads, rich in antioxidants, will be called “A Drop of Health”. “We already have some of the devices, the rape silo with a capacity of seven tons is ready, the line will start in February or March next year” – told PAP, project leader, Prof. Jerzy Tys from the Institute of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Lublin.
The costs of building a production line in the amount of PLN 5,8 million will be covered by the EU program Innovative Economy. The contractor of the devices is the Mega company from Bełżyce near Lublin.
“It will be a quarter-industrial production line, a pilot, where all production conditions are to be tested, and bottlenecks that may occur. The point is for some entrepreneur to buy this idea later and already know how to build a large, high-performance line ”- added prof. Thousand
The high health benefits of the oil are to be ensured by ecological cultivation of rapeseed and special production conditions. The silo for storing rapeseed will be cooled and filled with nitrogen, and the oil will be cold pressed, without oxygen and light. The finished product is to be packed in small disposable containers intended to be opened just before adding to the food. Disposable packaging will also be filled with nitrogen.
As prof. The idea is to keep in the oil the compounds that are valuable for health, which are found in rapeseed – carotenoids, tocopherols, and sterols. They are very sensitive to light and oxygen. They are called scavengers of free radicals, they help to protect against civilization diseases such as cancer, heart disease, Parkinson’s disease.
So far, scientists from Lublin have obtained pro-health oil on a laboratory scale. Research has confirmed its properties.
The production line designed at the Institute of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Lublin is to have a capacity of about 300 liters of oil per day. As it is initially estimated, with such efficiency, a liter of health-promoting oil will cost about PLN 80. Prof. Tys believes that with a larger scale of production, the costs will be lower and the oil can find buyers.