Exploiting heterotic behaviour for oil yield and fatty acid content in safflower (Carthamus tinctorious L.) in India

Abstract

Safflower is considered an important oilseed crop in the world. The oil mainly contains unsaturated fatty acids like linoleic acid and oleic acid. Fatty acid profiling of F2 seeds in all the crosses was found to be good along with a good amount of oil content. The highest oil content was found for the genotype EC-755664. The highest linoleic acid was found in the cross, EC 755673 X GMU 2830 followed by GMU 6854 X GMU 1217, while crosses EC 755664 X GMU 2830 and EC 755664 X GMU 1217 had a moderate average content of both linoleic acid and oleic acid. Better content of oil and fatty acid composition was observed in the crosses as compared to their parents. The percentage of linoleic and oleic acid content in F2 seeds was good along with a high percentage of oil content. The present findings may be very useful in breeding programs on the production of hybrids with high oil and good fatty acid content and can be applied in related crop improvement work.