Variability in oil content and fatty acid composition of Ethiopian and introduced cultivars of linseed

This study was undertaken to assess the variability in oil content, oil yield and fatty acid composition of 60 linseed cultivars and to identify suitable accessions for use in future breeding and development endeavours in Ethiopia. Mean oil contents ranged from 291 to 359 g kg^-1, while oil yields varied between 1443 and 3276 g m^-2. Exotic introductions, especially those from Canada such as CDC-VG, had higher oil contents than the local cultivars. Thus the introduction of exotic materials should be given more emphasis through germplasm exchange programmes. Unsaturated fatty acids were the major components in the oils, varying significantly (P < 0.01) from 859 to 906 g kg^-1, while minor saturated fatty acids were present at 84-119 g kg^-1. The contents of oleic, linoleic and linolenic acids were 148-293, 109-161 and 470-591 g kg^-1 respectively. Although accessions with variable linolenic acid contents were identified, this variability was insufficient to develop genotypes with less than 20 g kg^-1 linolenic acid for cooking oil through conventional crossing and selection methods. Hence mutation techniques and the introduction of exotic lines should be regarded as alternative approaches to obtain linseed genotypes with low linolenic acid contents.