Crambe abyssinica

Crambe, Abyssinian kale, Abyssinian cabbage

Erect annual herb 10-90 cm high with large pinnately lobed leaves. As it matures, the leaves drop and the seed pods and stems turn tan. The pods are harvested for the extraction of oil from the seeds. The residual seed meal, though high in protein (40% in decorticated meal and about 30% in other meal), contains glucosinolates which make it unpalatable and limit its use for animal feed. It can be made palatable by treatment with ammonia or sodium carbonate, to neutralize the undesirable components, or by heat treatment. The oilcake can be included up to 50% in supplements for ruminants.

					As % of dry matter
				DM	CP	CF	Ash	EE	NFE	Ca	P	Ref
Seeds				88.0	15.5	10.8	3.0	55.0	15.7			364
Oil meal, solvent
extracted				88.0	34.0	23.8	6.9	1.3	34.0			"
		Amino acid composition as % of crude protein
Oilcake											Ref	486
Arg	Cys	Gly	His	Ils	Leu	Lys	Met	Phe	Thr	Try	Tyr	Val
5.7	2.6	5.3	2.2	3.9	6.2	4.9	1.6	3.5	4.6	1.5	2.5	5.1