Health Effects
The effects of erucic acid from edible oils on human health are controversial. However no negative health effects have ever been documented in humans.
Mustard oil was once considered unsuitable for human consumption in the United States, Canada, and the European Union due to the high content of erucic acid. This is because of early studies in rats. Subsequent studies on rats have shown that they are less able to digest vegetable fats (whether they contain erucic acid or not) than humans and pigs. Chariton et al. suggests that in rats: “Inefficient activation of erucic acid to erucyl-CoA and a low level of activity of triglyceride lipase and enzymes of betaoxidation for erucic acid probably contribute to the accumulation and retention of cardiac lipid.” Before this process was fully understood it led to the belief that erucic acid and mustard oil were both highly toxic to humans.
Epidemiological studies suggest that, in regions where mustard oil is still used in a traditional manner, mustard oil may afford some protection against cardiovascular diseases. In this sense “traditional” means that (a) the oil is used fresh; and (b) vegetable fats count only as a small percentage of the total caloric intake. Whether this effect is due to the nature of erucic acid per se to make the blood platelets less sticky, or to the presence of a reasonably high percentage of α-linolenic acid, or to a combination of properties of fresh unrefined oil, is as yet uncertain. Care needs to be taken with such epidemiological studies to exclude the possibility of early deaths from other causes skewing the results. The fact that early asymptomatic coronary disease is readily detectable post mortem and is absent in the mustard oil cohorts tends to add weight to the hypothesis that mustard oil is protective.
A four-to-one mixture of erucic acid and oleic acid constitutes Lorenzo's oil; an experimental treatment for the rare neurobiology disorder adrenoleukodystrophy. Thrombocytopenia has been seen in patients treated with Lorenzo’s oil, probably related to its erucic acid content. For the reasons given above, it is not advisable for nursing mothers or babies to eat food containing erucic acid.
The high percentage of erucic acid in mustard oil has led to the latter being banned for food use in the European Union and other countries.
Read more about this topic: Erucic Acid
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