Influence of Temperature on the Fatty Acid Composition of the Oil From Sunflower Genotypes Grown in Tropical Regions

Abstract

AbstractThe influence of temperature on the fatty acid composition of the oils from conventional and high oleic sunflower genotypes grown in tropical regions was evaluated under various environmental conditions in Brazil (from 0° S to 23° S). The amounts of the oleic, linoleic, palmitic and stearic fatty acids from the sunflower oil were determined using gas chromatography (GC). The environment exhibited little influence on the amounts of oleic and linoleic fatty acids in high oleic genotypes of sunflower. In conventional genotypes, there was broad variation in the average amounts of these two fatty acids, mainly as a function of the minimum temperature. Depending on the temperature, especially during the maturation of the seeds, the amount of oleic acid in the oil of conventional sunflower genotypes could exceed 70 %. Higher temperatures led to average increases of up to 35 % for this fatty acid. Although the minimum temperature had the strongest effect on the fatty acid composition, locations at the same latitude with different minimum temperatures displayed similar values for both oleic acid and linoleic acid. Furthermore, minimum temperature had little influence on the amounts of palmitic and stearic fatty acids in the oil.