Fatty Acid Composition and Seed Meal Characteristics of Brassica and Allied Genera

Abstract

Nineteen different species of Brassica and allied genera were evaluated for their seed oil and meal properties. Besides, iodine value (IV) and cetane number (CN) of fatty acid methyl esters of oils were empirically determined. The content of saturated fatty acids in oils of majority of the species was recorded less than 7.0 %, the maximum threshold recommended for edible oils. The content of total monounsaturated fatty acids ranged from 38.41 % in Capsella bursa-pastoris to 79.89 % in Crambe abyssinica. The highest content of oleic acid (C18:1) was obtained in Lepidium sativum (27.57 %). Erucic acid (C22:1) content ranged between 4.65 and 57.51 % with the maximum in C. abyssinica. Amongst the polyunsaturated fatty acids, linoleic acid (C18:2) was found to be maximum in Arabidopsis thaliana (25.44 %) while linolenic acid (C18:3) was highest in Camelina sativa (32.57 %). Based on IV and CN, fatty acid methyl esters of the oils of Brassica juncea, B. carinata, B. fruticulosa, B. spinescens, B. tournefortii, C. abyssinica, Eruca sativa, Erucastrum canarience and Sinapis alba showed good prospects for use as feedstock for biodiesel production. Glucosinolates content in the seed meal were found to be higher than the desired level of <30 μ moles/g defatted seed meal in all the species. Crude fibre content ranged from 4.54 % in Diplotaxis siettiana to 14.62 % in Brassica tournefortii. Maximum phenol content was observed in S. alba (72.56 mg/g GAE) while the minimum (16.14 mg/g GAE) was detected in B. tournefortii. Lectin activity from 4 to 8 HU/ml was detected in saline extracts of B. fruticulosa, all the species of Diplotaxis except D. tenuisiliqua, and L. sativum. Briefly, present study reports significant diversity in the seed oil and meal properties in different species of Brassica and allied genera which could find utility for specific applications as edible as well as renewable industrial or fuel oils.