Variation of hullability and other seed characteristics among sunflower lines and hybrids

Abstract

The hullabilities of 40 inbred lines (20 male sterility maintainers and 20 male fertility restorers) and 36 hybrids were studied in several environments in France. Thousand seed weight, oil and hull contents and the quantity of hulls remaining with the kernel after hulling were also measured. Principal component analyses and a hierarchical clustering method were used to described the variation of both inbreds and hybrids. Hullability varied from 11 to 66% for inbreds and 16 to 60% for hybrids. This variation is sufficient to permit breeding programmes for this character. Hullability is correlated positively with hull content (r=0.35* to 0.69*) but negatively with oil content (r=−0.34*to−0.71**). Large seeds generally hull better than small seed (r=0.21ns to −0.66**). The value of the different classes of genotypes is discussed. Inbreds and hybrids producing achenes with a quite small hull content, a high oil content but a good hullability are the most promising for improvement of the quality of sunflower seed meal. Such genotypes are rare so that a recurrent selection programme is recommended to increase the frequency of favorable genes.