Fatty acid profile of new oat cultivars grown via organic and conventional farming

Abstract

The fat content, fatty acid composition, and atherogenic and thrombogenic indices were determined in five new oat cultivars grown under organic and conventional cropping systems at two experimental localities. The total fat content in the dehulled grain samples ranged from 4.8 to 6.0%. Naked oat Patrik had a significantly higher fat content than the hulled oat cultivars. Linoleic acid (37.8–40.0%), oleic acid (34.8–38.5%), and palmitic acid (17.1–19.8%) were the most abundant fatty acids in the evaluated oat cultivars. The sum of monounsaturated, polyunsaturated and saturated fatty acids ranged from 36.1 to 39.7%, 40.17–42.7%, and 19.4–22.4% of the total fatty acids, respectively. The content of fat, oleic, linoleic, and linolenic fatty acids, similar to that of monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids, was significantly affected by the environmental conditions (locality), whereas that of palmitic acid and saturated fatty acids was affected mainly by cultivar. The effect of the cropping system was insignificant. All evaluated oat cultivars had favourable atherogenic (0.23–0.27) and thrombogenic (0.41–0.49) indices. Thus, they could be a good source of nutritionally valuable oil.