Heating the rapeseed prior to the oil extraction is conducted to increase the oil yield but it can also induce changes of various components of the seed. These changes may affect the composition of the volatile and non-volatile compounds of produced virgin rapeseed oil. The aim of our study is to determine the impact of different conditioning temperatures (60, 80 and 100 °C) on the quality, nutritional value, aroma profile and sensory characteristics of virgin rapeseed oil. Conditioning the seeds at all three temperatures had no influence on the quality and major nutritional components (fatty acids and tocopherols) of the produced oil. However, temperature increase caused an exponential increase of canolol and significant changes in the aroma and sensory profile of the produced oil samples. The dominant volatile compounds of cold-pressed and virgin oil produced at 60 °C were enzymatic degradation products of glucosinolates (isothiocyanates and epithionitriles), responsible for pronounced seed-like flavour of these types of oil. Increasing production temperature deactivated enzymes and caused thermal decomposition of seed components and increment of nitriles, aldehydes, pyrazines and furanes, carriers of nutty and roasty flavour. These results can help producers to design virgin rapeseed oil with specific and desirable sensory characteristics.
Keywords: nutritional value; rapeseed oil; seed conditioning; sensory analysis; volatile components.