Abstract
The US effort for the development of new crops is directed toward the advancement of crops that can be grown in rotation with traditional commodity crops, off-season production and utilization of acreage not currently under cultivation. This effort is intended to have no or minimal impact on crop rotations that are sources for food production. The high oil content and the fatty acid profiles of mustard crops make them suitable for utilization as both fuels and base stocks for functionalized industrial chemicals. Pennycress (thlaspi arvense) and lesquerella (lesquerella fendleri) are representatives of this family and have received much attention due to their potential to grow over winter in rotation with soybean production throughout the Midwest (pennycress) or as a winter annual in the desert southwest (lesquerella). Pennycress is an oilseed crop that produces 36% oil with a wide distribution of fatty acids (principal fatty acid is erucic acid 37%) that make it suitable for production of biodiesel. The key aspect of pennycress is that its lifecycle is complete such that a full season soybean can follow its production in the same growing season. Lesquerella is an oilseed crop containing 30% oil that is composed of 60% hydroxy fatty acids. Hydroxy fatty acids are used in a wide range of industrial and cosmetic applications. Two other New Crops currently under investigation are cuphea and coriander. Cuphea is an oilseed crop that contains 35% oil that is composed of medium chain saturated fatty acids. The current cuphea variety under investigation is high in capric fatty acid (76%) with other cuphea species producing high levels of lauric acid. Cuphea can be grown throughout the Midwest but suffers from several agronomic traits that are currently limiting is potential adaptation. Coriander is also an oilseed crop with 25% oil where the main fatty acid is petroselinic acid (76%). Coriander can be grown under a short season production and has potential to rotate as a second crop following winter wheat. Petroselinic acid can be ozonolytically cleaved into adipic and lauric acids both high volume industrial chemicals.
Highlights
Agriculture production in the US is focused on a few commodity crops, wheat cotton and the two largest crops, corn and soybean
Any effort in the development of a new crop must consider the consequence on the existing commodity crop that it will displace
Cuphea fatty acids when reacted with oleic acid to form estolides have been shown to posses superior lubricating properties than many other vegetable oils and petroleum derived products [15, 16]
Summary
Agriculture production in the US is focused on a few commodity crops, wheat cotton and the two largest crops, corn and soybean. The compounds may serve as replacement for petroleum derived products Utilizing these guidelines our group has been conducting research on mainly four potential crops coriander, cuphea lesquerella and pennycress. This rapid growth and maturation make coriander suitable for a double crop rotation through much of the Midwestern US where winter wheat is produced. Winter wheat is fall planted and harvested around July 4th providing nearly 100 days of frost free days for crop development The challenges for this type of rotation is limited mid-summer precipitation which is often very localized coupled with declining daylengths and eventually in late season when pods are maturing the potential for early season frost.
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