Camelina: Food Supplement, Gourmet Salad Oil, Weed Suppressant, Biofuel Feedstock
By Jyotsna Sreenivasan, Public Information Specialist, University of Idaho Biodiesel Education Program
Many in the biofuels industry have heard of camelina (Camelina sativa—a plant in the Brassica family) as the latest, greatest biofuel feedstock. It requires less water than canola, it can grow in cold climates, and it is being researched as a feedstock for biodiesel and jet fuel. The drawing to the left shows the camelina plant and seed pod, courtesy USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database.
For example, a Cincinnati, Ohio company called Great Plains Oil and Exploration: The Camelina Company was founded “with the purpose of manufacturing and marketing biodiesel produced from camelina." Montana-based Sustainable Oils has “developed elite varieties of the unique oilseed crop, camelina, which is used to produce a high-quality, efficient biofuel." In 2009, Japan Airlines claimed to be the first airline to conduct demonstration flights fueled by camelina-based jet fuel. On Earth Day 2010, a U.S. Navy supersonic jet made a test flight using 50% camelina oil fuel.
For the past three years Lentz Spelt Farms in Marlin, Washington has intercropped camelina with emmer (an ancient form of wheat) and other crops. The Biodiesel Education Team at the University of Idaho became aware of Lentz Spelt Farms’ interest in camelina when we found their seeds being sold in the bulk section of our local food co-op. Rene Featherstone, who is in charge of research and development at Lentz Spelt Farms, agreed to talk to us about his experiences with camelina.
Featherstone is incredibly excited about camelina’s potential. He agrees that camelina can be a good feedstock for biofuels, but he has a broader view of the plant’s usefulness. Featherstone has found that camelina can serve as a weed suppressor, as a food supplement, and as a food product for humans and animals.
Nowadays we tend to view camelina as a new crop, but in fact it has been cultivated since about 2,000 BC. Remains of camelina seeds have been found in Neolithic, Bronze Age, and Iron Age agricultural sites throughout Europe. Camelina was grown commercially for oil until the 1940s in central and eastern Europe (Zohary and Hopf, p. 125). The actual oil content of the seeds ranges from 29% to 41%, with a protein content ranging from 23% to 30% (Putnam et al.).
Another name for camelina is “German sesame,” and Featherstone says the seeds can be used in baking as a substitute for poppy seeds, sesame seeds, or chia seeds. At one point Lentz Spelt Farms sold their camelina seeds to a Tacoma, Washington hummus company which wanted to use only regional ingredients in their hummus. They used camelina instead of sesame seeds. Camelina oil is high in Omega-3 fatty acid (alpha-linolenic acid) as well as gamma tocopherol, a form of Vitamin E. Featherstone recommends using the cold-pressed oil in vinaigrette. Lentz Spelt Farms has also sold camelina seed as chicken feed, and camelina oil as a soap feedstock.
Featherstone learned about camelina from Duane Johnson, who was at Montana State University at that time. Johnson was excited about camelina because compared to canola, camelina needed fewer inputs, and the seed was cheaper. Featherstone was especially interested in camelina’s health benefits. Lentz Spelt Farms bought seeds of two varieties of heritage camelina, one from Germany and one from Austria. Lentz Spelt Farms mixes the two seeds before planting. Featherstone named this blend “Lena Camelina” after his business partner Lena Lentz Hardt.
For three years Lentz Spelt Farms intercropped camelina with emmer and it “worked like a charm” to suppress weeds. Camelina grows in a horizontal rosette and often nothing else will grow through. Camelina has a deep tap root and if intercropped with grain that has a shallow root, the two crops don’t compete for water. Last year Featherstone tried a variety of winter camelina from Poland intercropped with winter spelt. The camelina came up well but did not suppress weeds. This year he will try spring camelina with winter spelt. “We want to get the system down to where people don’t have to spray for weeds,” Featherstone says.
Lentz Spelt Farms provided camelina seeds to Paul Walters, a farmer in Princeton, Idaho who wanted to try an intercropped system using peas and camelina. Walters believes his pea yield was about the same as without the intercropping. The photo below shows Walters in a field interplanted with peas and camelina.
Camelina should be seeded at 2 to 5 lbs/acre if monocropped, which will yield 500 to 2,000 lbs of seed per acre. If intercropped, a lower seeding rate should be used (40-50% of the monocropped rate). According to Featherstone, this system works if the primary crop produces the same yield, so the income is the same from the main crop. The camelina can then be used for food, feed, fuel, or even as a feedstock for bio-plastics.
Featherstone recommends harvesting the two intercropped seeds together, and then separating the seeds using screens. While Lentz Spelt Farms spends the time and money to clean their camelina for food grade products, Featherstone points out that if farmers want to sell the seed as a biofuel feedstock, they do not have to clean it quite as well.
To contact Rene Featherstone, please call him at 509-345-2483.
Works cited:
Putnam, D.H., J.T. Budin, L.A. Field, & W.M. Breene. 1993. Camelina: A Promising Low-Input Oilseed. p. 314-322. In: J. Janick and J.E. Simon (eds.), New Crops. Wiley, New York.
Zohary, Daniel and Maria Hopf. 1988. Domestication of Plants in the Old World. Clarendon Press, Oxford.
For More Information:
Camelina Production in Montana – an 8-page document published by Montana State University in 2008. http://msuextension.org/publications/AgandNaturalResources/MT200701AG.pdf
Camelina sativa, a Montana Omega-3 and Fuel Crop – a 3-page publication from Montana State University, published in 2007: http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/ncnu07/pdfs/pilgeram129-131.pdf
For example, a Cincinnati, Ohio company called Great Plains Oil and Exploration: The Camelina Company was founded “with the purpose of manufacturing and marketing biodiesel produced from camelina." Montana-based Sustainable Oils has “developed elite varieties of the unique oilseed crop, camelina, which is used to produce a high-quality, efficient biofuel." In 2009, Japan Airlines claimed to be the first airline to conduct demonstration flights fueled by camelina-based jet fuel. On Earth Day 2010, a U.S. Navy supersonic jet made a test flight using 50% camelina oil fuel.
For the past three years Lentz Spelt Farms in Marlin, Washington has intercropped camelina with emmer (an ancient form of wheat) and other crops. The Biodiesel Education Team at the University of Idaho became aware of Lentz Spelt Farms’ interest in camelina when we found their seeds being sold in the bulk section of our local food co-op. Rene Featherstone, who is in charge of research and development at Lentz Spelt Farms, agreed to talk to us about his experiences with camelina.
Featherstone is incredibly excited about camelina’s potential. He agrees that camelina can be a good feedstock for biofuels, but he has a broader view of the plant’s usefulness. Featherstone has found that camelina can serve as a weed suppressor, as a food supplement, and as a food product for humans and animals.
Nowadays we tend to view camelina as a new crop, but in fact it has been cultivated since about 2,000 BC. Remains of camelina seeds have been found in Neolithic, Bronze Age, and Iron Age agricultural sites throughout Europe. Camelina was grown commercially for oil until the 1940s in central and eastern Europe (Zohary and Hopf, p. 125). The actual oil content of the seeds ranges from 29% to 41%, with a protein content ranging from 23% to 30% (Putnam et al.).
Another name for camelina is “German sesame,” and Featherstone says the seeds can be used in baking as a substitute for poppy seeds, sesame seeds, or chia seeds. At one point Lentz Spelt Farms sold their camelina seeds to a Tacoma, Washington hummus company which wanted to use only regional ingredients in their hummus. They used camelina instead of sesame seeds. Camelina oil is high in Omega-3 fatty acid (alpha-linolenic acid) as well as gamma tocopherol, a form of Vitamin E. Featherstone recommends using the cold-pressed oil in vinaigrette. Lentz Spelt Farms has also sold camelina seed as chicken feed, and camelina oil as a soap feedstock.
Featherstone learned about camelina from Duane Johnson, who was at Montana State University at that time. Johnson was excited about camelina because compared to canola, camelina needed fewer inputs, and the seed was cheaper. Featherstone was especially interested in camelina’s health benefits. Lentz Spelt Farms bought seeds of two varieties of heritage camelina, one from Germany and one from Austria. Lentz Spelt Farms mixes the two seeds before planting. Featherstone named this blend “Lena Camelina” after his business partner Lena Lentz Hardt.
For three years Lentz Spelt Farms intercropped camelina with emmer and it “worked like a charm” to suppress weeds. Camelina grows in a horizontal rosette and often nothing else will grow through. Camelina has a deep tap root and if intercropped with grain that has a shallow root, the two crops don’t compete for water. Last year Featherstone tried a variety of winter camelina from Poland intercropped with winter spelt. The camelina came up well but did not suppress weeds. This year he will try spring camelina with winter spelt. “We want to get the system down to where people don’t have to spray for weeds,” Featherstone says.
Lentz Spelt Farms provided camelina seeds to Paul Walters, a farmer in Princeton, Idaho who wanted to try an intercropped system using peas and camelina. Walters believes his pea yield was about the same as without the intercropping. The photo below shows Walters in a field interplanted with peas and camelina.
Camelina should be seeded at 2 to 5 lbs/acre if monocropped, which will yield 500 to 2,000 lbs of seed per acre. If intercropped, a lower seeding rate should be used (40-50% of the monocropped rate). According to Featherstone, this system works if the primary crop produces the same yield, so the income is the same from the main crop. The camelina can then be used for food, feed, fuel, or even as a feedstock for bio-plastics.
Featherstone recommends harvesting the two intercropped seeds together, and then separating the seeds using screens. While Lentz Spelt Farms spends the time and money to clean their camelina for food grade products, Featherstone points out that if farmers want to sell the seed as a biofuel feedstock, they do not have to clean it quite as well.
To contact Rene Featherstone, please call him at 509-345-2483.
Works cited:
Putnam, D.H., J.T. Budin, L.A. Field, & W.M. Breene. 1993. Camelina: A Promising Low-Input Oilseed. p. 314-322. In: J. Janick and J.E. Simon (eds.), New Crops. Wiley, New York.
Zohary, Daniel and Maria Hopf. 1988. Domestication of Plants in the Old World. Clarendon Press, Oxford.
For More Information:
Camelina Production in Montana – an 8-page document published by Montana State University in 2008. http://msuextension.org/publications/AgandNaturalResources/MT200701AG.pdf
Camelina sativa, a Montana Omega-3 and Fuel Crop – a 3-page publication from Montana State University, published in 2007: http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/ncnu07/pdfs/pilgeram129-131.pdf