Winter camelina seed quality in different growing environments across Northern America and Europe

Abstract

Winter camelina [Camelina sativa (L.) Crantz], a multifunctional oilseed crop, offers the potential to sustainably diversify cropping systems across the USA and Europe. However, to promote winter camelina as a widespread sustainable and profitable crop, it is imperative to know how different environmental conditions impact its seed oil content and fatty acid (FA) composition. The objective of this study was to compare the seed qualitative traits [i.e., 1000-kernel weight (TKW), seed oil content, FA profile and saturation] of a winter camelina cv. Joelle, grown across six different environments (Poland, Italy, Greece, Canada, USA, and Spain). Winter camelina seed qualitative traits varied significantly across environments. Average TKW across regions ranged from 0.77 to 1.07 g, with the heaviest and the lightest seeds produced in Poland and Spain, respectively. Joelle seed oil content varied across locations from 35.1–41.9 %. A significant and negative relationship between seed oil content (r2 = 0.50, P ≤ 0.05) and TKW (r2 = 0.44, P ≤ 0.05) and growing degree days (GDD)/number of days from sowing to harvest demonstrated that environments with a short growing cycle and high temperatures depressed seed oil content and seed weight. Joelle TKW, seed oil content, linolenic acid (C18:3) content, and omega-3/omega-6 FA ratio (n-3/n-6) were promoted when grown in environments with prolonged growing seasons and evenly distributed precipitation. Results indicate that growing conditions should be carefully considered for the future large scale production of camelina as prevailing climate variables will likely influence seed quality, thus affecting the suitability for various end-uses.