Raw materials

The following kinds of olive raw material are processed at the enterprises of our holding:

1. Rape (lat. Brassica Napus, L. var. oleifera DC.)

- An important olive plant of Cruciferae family. There are two types of rape: summer rape (annu a Do ll.) and winter (hyemalis D ll.).

Rape is an annual or biannual (winter rape) plant with a thin root and direct, branchy (above) stalk; bottom leaves are petiolar and have form of lyre, top leaves are oblong, fullbordered with the expanded heart-shaped basis, half-clasped a stalk. Golden-yellow flowers, collected in rather thin brushes; blooming of flowers follows in an ascending sequence. The pod is strongly rejected from a stalk, almost horizontal. The seeds are brown.

The rape has been cultivated since immemorial times - it is mentioned in culture in 4 millenia B.C. Some researchers think that the native place of rape or rep (the South-German name) is Europe, exactly - its northwest coastal areas (the seaside grounds of Sweden, Netherlands and Great Britain), others think that this place is the Mediterranean. That fact that since the ancient times the rape had been mostly widespread in Asia, exactly - in India, where it came from the Mediterranean, proves the second point of view. The idea of transportation of the rape to Asia from Europe is less plausible; it seems that rape had been delivered by English and Dutch colonizers from India to Europe.

To the middle of XIX century, rape, together with other olive plants (eg. mustard), was very widespread culture in Europe. Such wide circulation of rape had been caused with great needs in technical oil. The young petroleum industry wasn’t able to satisfy this demand, and the rape culture, which was one of the most productive olive plants in the European agroclimatic conditions, was demanded very well.

In our country, in 1870, about 25 thousand of hectares were covered with rape, and during the next 30 years those areas were enlarged up to 357 thousand of hectares.

However, the occurrence of cheap mineral oil in the international markets, including mineral oils used for greasing and illumination, decreased the volume of cultivation of rape, especially in Europe, where in 1909-1917 the rape plantations were reduced from 178 down to 92 thousand of hectares. In Asia (basically in India, which contained 3/4 of all world rape areas), there was a stable level of rape crops – about 2,5 - 3 million of hectares.

At the end of XIX century in Russia, together with mitigation of grain crisis and the increasing of the demand on the Russian grain (basically on wheat), rape’s crope areas started to reduce. At the same time, rape was kept in Ukraine down to October revolution, occupying large areas (30-40 thousand of hectares) and remaining the basic olive culture, when the sunflower occupied 10 thousand of hectares in Ukraine.

At the beginning of 50th years rape producing in Russia has almost been completely curtailed. The main cause is intensive development of producing of sunflower, while rape could not economically compete with it. There were not productive grades and effective means of protection of a plant from wreckers. The cultivation of rape has been renewed only since 1980, it areas had 258 thousand of hectares to 1990.

Today rape is widely cultivated in those natural zones, where the majority of olive cultures sometimes could not ripen.

Winter (biannual) rape is very exacting to a climate, its frost resistance is insignificant; the greater danger for it is drought and surplus of heat in winter months. Summer rape is less exacting to climatic conditions, but, in comparison with winter, it is less fruitful and less fat.

In Canada, for example, summer rape is widespread, while in Germany, Poland, France, the Great Britain, etc., with a favorable climate, winter rape is basically cultivated.

2. The SOYA (lat. Glycine max)

- A plant of bean family, which native land is east Asia.

The seeds of soya, sometimes named soya-beans (from English soya bean) – are rather widespread food stuffs, which are known since the third millenium A.D. Soya is often named a miracle-plant - owing to the high productivity and high maintenance of the vegetative fiber (about 40 % of weight of a seed, and sometimes 48-50 %), which is similar to the animal fiber. That’s why soya is a part of some forages for animals.

Soya is one of the most ancient cultural plants. The history of cultivation of this culture is estimated, at least, in five thousand years. Figures of soya was founded out in China on stones, bones and the turtle armours. The cultivation of soya is mentioned in the earliest Chinese literature of 3-4 thousand B.C. The well-known ancient Chineese scientist Min-Iz wrote, that the founder of China, emperor Ha-di (the other name Shen-Nung), who lived about 4320 years ago, learned people to crop five cultures: rice, wheat, chymise, millet and soya.. In 1898 in the USA a plenty of soya sort samples from Asia and Europe had been delivered. Then selection and industrial cultivation of this culture started. In 1907 the soya area in the USA was already nearby 20 thousand of hectares. At the beginning of 30th years of XX century, the soya area has already exceeded 1 million of hectares.

The first native mentions of soya concern to the expedition of V.Poyarkov to the sea of Okhotsk in 1643-1646, who met the crops of soya in middle stream of the Amur at the local Manjuro-Tungus population. Poyarkov’s notes had soon been published in Holland and came to Europe almost for century earlier then Campher’s. The next archival mention of this culture was dated at 1741. However the practical interest to this culture in Russia was appeared only after the World's exhibition in Vein in 1873; there were more than 20 sorts of soya from Asia and Africa. In 1873 Russian scientist Maksimovich met and described soya under the name “Glycine hispida Max”, which was widespreaded in Russia, (and then in the USSR), and in the other world. The first tests in Russia were in 1877 on the grounds of Taurian and Kherson provinces. The first selection works in Russia began in 1912-1918 on the Amur test field. But the events of 1917-1919 in Russia led to loss of test population. The beginning of restoration of the Amur yellow population of soya, of another phenotype, concerns to 1923-1924. As a result of continuous selection the first russion sort of soya (“Amur yellow”) was cultivated in 1934. In opinion of selectors of that epoch, 1924-1927 years – are the years the beginning of mass introduction and distribution of soya in Russia

3. SUNFLOWER (an armour. Helianthus)

- A plant of complex-blooming family.

The well known kind of this sort of plants is “olive sunflower” (Helianthus annuus). This sort is grown up practically all over the world and used for producing of sunflower oil.

Olive sunflower is an annual plant with thick stalks up to 4-5 m of height, simple or branchy, with one or several heads; the single heads sometimes are 0.5 metres width (usually - 15-20 sm); bordered flowers are yellow, median - orange.

The fruit of sunflower is oblong tetrahedral or compressed from sides seed, consisting of a peel and the white seed (kernel), covered by a seed membrane. In the peel of modern sorts of sunflower there is an armour-clad layer, owing to which the seeds are well-protected.

The native land of sunflower is Northern America. Apparently, for the first time the sunflower was cultivated by the tribes of North American Indians. There are archeologic certificates of cultivation of sunflower on territories of present states of Arizonas and New Mexico approximately in 3000 B.C. Some archeologists approve, that the sunflower was cultivated even before wheat.

Indians used the milled seeds of sunflower as we use the flour; the crushed seeds of sunflower were delicatessen. There are even some Indian certificates of manufacturing of oil from sunflower. Oil was used in bakery and even, probably, as a cosmetic remedy for greasing a leather and hair. Indians also took a purple paint from sunflower.

To Europe the sunflower was delivered by the Spanish conquerors of America approximately in 1500. Originally the plant was used as decorative one, sometimes it was used in medicine. For the first time, English were the first in Europe who thought of the producing of oil from the sunflower; there is also the English patent of 1716 describing this process. However scale manufacture of sunflower oil began in Russia.

The seeds of sunflower were delivered in Russia from Holland by Peter I. The plant was originally used as decorative one.

The industrial process of manufacturing of sunflower oil was created by the serf Bokaryov from the village Alekseyevka in 1828. knew the tehnology of producing of linen and cedar oil and decided to apply the same process to the producing of sunflower oil. In 1833 landowner Sheremetyev, the owner of Alekseyevka, with the help of Bokaryov, constructed the first factory of the producing of sunflower oil. Sunflower oil has quickly got popularity in Russia, because of its accessibility in days of the Great Post. In the middle of XIX century a lot of areas of Voronezh and Saratov, the sunflower borrowed 30-40 % of areas under crops.
Russian (Soviet) selectors V.S.Pustovojt, L.A.Zhdanov etc. raised the olive of sunflower and its stability to wreckers. The most prestigious world premium in the field of cultivation of sunflower carries name of Pystovojt.

At the end of XIX century emigrants from Russia delivered the technology of manufacturing of sunflower and sunflower oil back to the USA and Canada. Soon the USA became one of the main (after Russia) manufacturers of sunflower oil.

Now the producing of sunflower and its oil is worldwide spreaded.