An Annual or biennial, when sown late and flowering the following spring, with slender or stout, hard, long, fusiform tuberous taproot; stems erect, much-branched, up to 1.5 m tall, often purple toward base; leaves glaucous, the lower ones lyrate-pinnatifid or lobed, with petioles 10–30 cm long, glabrous or with a few bristly hairs, upper stem leaves lanceolate, sessile, clasping, more or less entire; flowers pale yellow, 1.2–1.5 cm long, open flowers not overtopping buds of inflorescence; inflorescence much-branched, up to 1 m tall as an elongating raceme; silique 5–11 cm long, 2.5–4 mm wide, with slender beak 0.5–3 mm long.

Emollient, diuretic and anticatarrhal (root); dissolves gall stones (seed oil).

Plants for a Future
Brassica napus L.
Brassica napus L.

Alanine, allantoin, arginine, ascorbic acid, aspartic acid, beta-carotene, folacin, glutamic acid, glycine, histidine, isoleucine, leucine, linoleic acid, lycopene, lysine, methionine, mufa, niacin, oleic acid, palmitic acid, pantothenic acid, phenylalanine, PUFA, riboflavin, serine, stearic acid, thiamin, threonine, tryptophan, tyrosine, valine (root); 5-vinyl-2-oxazolidinethione, thioglucosides and thioglucosinolates (seed); brasinolide (oil).

In the treatment of chronic coughs and bronchial catarrh (root juice); with camphor for rheumatism and stiff joints; dissolves gall stones (seed oil). It is dropped into the ear to relieve earaches.

Seed, containing the goitrogenic L-5-vinyl-2-thiooxazolidone, can produce goiter in animals consuming modest quantities. Rape has been incriminated in several poisoning syndromes, i.e. respiratory, digestive, nervous, and urinary.

Chandel et al., Biodiversity in Medicinal and Aromatic Plants in India.