Sunflower Genotypes Research Articles

Evaluation of some sunflower genotypes for agronomic traits and oil quality

Abstract The present investigation was carried out to evaluate agronomic performance and oil quality of seven sunflower genotypes at Shandaweel Research Station, Agricultural Research Center, Sohag, Egypt during 2018 and 2019 summer seasons. These genetic materials were sown in a randomized complete block design having three replications. Significant genetic variations among evaluated sunflower genotypes for agronomic traits and oil quality were observed. The superior sunflower genotypes were Line 120 for seed yield per hectare (3102.38 kg), Sakha 53 for seed oil content (44.63 %) and Line 125 for oil quality where it contained the highest proportion of unsaturated fatty acids (89.20 %). The phenotypic coefficients of variation were slightly higher than genotypic coefficients of variation for all studied traits. High heritability (exceeded 60%) and genetic advance as percent of mean (ranged from medium to high, exceeded 10%) was observed for most studied traits. Seed yield per plant positively correlated with plant height, stem diameter, head diameter, and 100-seed weight and most chemical traits at phenotypic and genotypic levels. Maximum phenotypic direct effects on seed yield per plant were observed for 100-seed weight, head diameter and total unsaturated fatty acids. While, the highest genotypic direct effect on seed yield per plant was observed for head diameter. Hence, most studied traits could be employed as selection criteria for improving evaluated sunflower genotypes.

Response of yield and quality of four genotypes from sunflower to foliar spray with folic acid

"A field experiment was conducted in the experimental field affiliated to the college of Agricultural Engineering Sciences, The University of Baghdad, Jadrya during the spring season 2019 to invertigate the response of yield and quality traits of Four sunflower genotypes to the folic acid spray. Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) of three replicates within afactorial experiment order was used. The experiment included two factors , the first was represented by four sunflower genotypes ( Ishaqi1, Ishaqi2,Tarzan and Aqmar ) and the second by four folic acid concentrations (0,1,2 and 3 gm L-1 ) sprayed at the two plant stages , the first at 4 leaves ( for 75% of the total plants ), the second at the beginning of the appearance of flower buds . The results showed, Aqmar variety was superior in the diameter of disk, number of seed in disk and averages reached 22.77 cm, and 1225 seed respectively. Ishaqi2 was superior in 1000seed weight (82.66 gm), total seeds yield (5.138 Mg ha-1 ) and oil ratio in seed (44.01%) (2.262 Mg ha-1 ). Without significant differences with Aqmar var. in crop growth rate, seeds yield and biological yield. Spraying folic acid affected significantly the most yield and its comonents studied traits. The concentration 2 gm L-1 was superior in oil ratio number of seeds and plant yield with increasing ratio was 27.03%, 16.2% and 7.77% compard with comparsion respectivly. Wheras the plants treated by spraying 3 gm L-1 of folic acid gave the highest averages of the traits diameter of disk ( 22.34 cm ) fertility ratio ( 99.258% ) and 1000 seed weight ( 77.68 gm ) without significant differences in most traits with 2 gm L-1 concentration . Whereas the plants without spray gave the lowest average for most traits. The interaction between the two factors was its significant in yield and its componets (number of seeds and1000 seed weight).

Determination of Yield, Oil and Fatty Acid Composition of Some Oil Sunflower (Helianthus annuus L) Genotypes İn Diyarbakır Conditions

Oil seeds have an important place in human and animal nutrition because of their protein, fat, carbohydrate and mineral content content. This study was carried out to determination of yield, oil and fatty acid composition of some oil sunflower (Helianthus annuus L) genotypes in Diyarbakır conditions in 2018. The experiment was arranged in a randomized block design with three replications. In the study, thirteen different sunflower genotypes (Nantio, Turkuaz, Sanbro, Sanay MR, Armada CL, Bosfora, Tarsan 1018, LG 5580, Sirena, Transol, LG 5482, Coral and Tunca) were used as material. In the study plant height, head diameter, 1000 seed weight, seed yield,protein content, oil content, content of saturated and unsaturated fatty acids in the sunflower were investigated. The result showed that Significant differences were found between genotypes with respect to yield and oil quality components. According to mean values, the highest seed yield obtained from LG-5580 genotype (3813 kg ha-1). The highest values 1000 seed weight were found from LG-5580 (73.7 g) and Tunca (72.5 g) genotypes. The great oil content found as 44.6% from Armada CL genotype. The highest Linoleic acid content values were found by Tunca (55.7%) and LG-5580 (55.3%) genotypes, in adition to, the highest oleic values was determinated by Bosfora (37.8%) genotype. it was concluded that LG-5580 genotype could reliably be used in sunflower farming under ecological conditions of Diyarbakır province of Turkey.

Productivity and elements of the formation of the structure of the yield of sunflower genotypes when treated with plant growth regulators

Formulation of the problem. Among the main opportunities for improving seed production and the technology of growing sunflower in general is the use of plant growth regulators (further – PGRs). The main problem of PGRs is their strong dependence on weather conditions during the processing of plants. In addition, with the rapid increase in the number of PGRs in the State Register of Pesticides and Agrochemicals, their effect on various types of genotypes and their functionality under uncontrolled weather conditions remains poorly understood. Relevance of the topic. One of the most cost-effective and proven effective is the use of plant growth regulators. To date, a whole series of synthetic growth regulators, which in its composition has the active substances of humic origin, mineral compounds and extracts with different plants. But today the reaction of each genotype of sunflower separately from each other under the action of PGRs with different active substances remains little studied. Purpose. Study of the response of various genotypes of lines, hybrids and varieties of sunflower to the use of plant growth regulators. Material and methods. The studies were carried out in the period from 2018–2020., on the experimental field of the Department of Genetics, Breeding and Seed Production of KhNAU named after V.V. Dokuchaev. Lines, experimental hybrids and varieties of sunflower were used as the studied genotypes. Plant growth regulators Fulvital Plus, EcoStim, QuadroStim and applied by spraying during the growing season in the phase of 2–5 true leaves, and again in the phase of the sprocket. Conclusions. On average, over the years of research, the productivity of sterile lines increased from 0.7 to 38.1 %, depending on the PGRs and genotype. It is noted that lines SKh808A and SKh1002A have a greater potential to increase the structural indicators of the yield. One of the factors is their high adaptive capacity to the environment. The average rate of increase in line productivity according to PGRs from 5.1 g formed in the SKh1002A line and in SKh808A by 7.1 g. The weight of 1000 seeds increased from 0.3 to 24.7 % depending on PGRs, natural seeds and was within from -3.7 to 17.3 % depending on the drug and the line. The influence of PGRs on fertile lines of sunflower was weaker in comparison with sterile lines. By factor B, an increase in productivity was noted in the Kh785V line by 15.8 % and in the Kh1012B line by 27.7%, respectively. The main influence of PGRs in these lines under study was an increase in the mass of 1000 seeds. Thus, this indicator was 44.4 g for the Kh1012B line, which is 30.3 % more than the control and in the Kh06135V line – 53.1 g, an increase of 15.3 % to the control. The low performance of fertile lines compared to sterile lines is a consequence of the energy consumption of plants, since fertile lines produce pollen during the growing season, while fertile lines spend only energy on seed formation. The use of PGRs turned out to be quite effective in experimental hybrids. An increase in the genetic set occurs precisely during the creation of hybrids, the manifestation of heterosis increases the productive and adaptive capabilities of plants. The increase in the productivity of the hybrids was in the range of 0.3–19.6 %, the mass of 1000 seeds was in the range of 3.4–16.7 %. The productive characteristics of sunflower varieties had a low response to the use of PGRs Fulvital Plus, EcoStim and QuadroStim during the research period 2018–2020. Keywords. seed production, breeding, lines, sunflower, plant growth regulators, yield, hybrids, variety.

Evaluation of sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) genotypes for quantitative traits and character association of seed yield and yield components at Oromia region, Ethiopia

Sunflower is one of the most important oil crops in Ethiopia in terms of edible oil and holds significant promise for improvement and development improved varieties. The present study was initiated to study the genetic diversity and performance of sunflower genotypes that enables to harness its seed yield and oil content improvement by using 25 genotypes including two standard checks namely Russian black and Oissa at Holeta Agricultural research center by using simple lattice design. The genotypes characterized for different agro-morphological traits and oil content. The analyses of variances have revealed highly significant difference among the genotypes for all the characters. The data revealed that sufficient variability was present among sunflower genotypes considered under this study. High Phenotypic coefficient variation, Genotypic coefficient variation and estimates of heritability (broad sense) were obtained for seed yield, oil content, oil yield, and thousand seed weight while the above parameters were found to be less compared to characters. High heritability accompanied with high genetic advance, as per percentages of mean was observed in case of seed yield, oil content, oil yield per plot, harvest index, head diameter and plant height suggesting importance of additive genetic action in the inheritance of these characters. While, high heritability coupled with moderate genetic advance was observed for days to maturity and days to 50% flowering, seed yield per plant, leaf number and reproductive phase. These indicate that the traits were controlled by additive gene action. Days to maturity, oil yield, seed yield per plant, head diameter and reproductive phase revealed positive association and had positive direct effect of seed yield. Based on genetic distance (D2 value), the genotypes under this study were grouped into two clusters indicating wider genetic diversity among the genotypes. Among the two clusters, cluster II represented the largest genotypes (18) followed by cluster I (4) genotypes and cluster S1, S2, and S3 genotypes. The clustering pattern indicated the absence of relationship between genetic diversity and geographical origin of genotypes. The maximum inter-cluster distance was observed between cluster I (D2 = 6.85). Out of the thirteen traits four significant principal components (PCs) exhibited more than 1 Eigen value and showed about 80.2% variability among the genotypes studied. The first PC accounted 41% of the variances that implies greater proportion of variable information explained by PC1. This indicates that any improvement of these characters would result in a substantial increment of seed yield.

The Morpho-Genetic Estimation of Drought Stress in Sunflower Seedlings under Laboratory Conditions

Drought stress directly affects the growth along with productivity of plants by altering plant water status. The present study was carried out to characterize the genetic variability for seedling and morpho-physiological parameters in different sunflower genotypes under water stressed conditions. A total twenty seven genotypes including two hybrids, eight advanced lines and seventeen accessions of sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) were tested against drought stress at seedling stages by applying Polyethylene glycol (PEG). Significant means were calculated among traits using analysis of variance (ANOVA) whereas, correlation and principle component analysis also confirmed that germination percentage, root length, shoot length, chlorophyll content, stomatal frequency are positively linked with each other hence, these traits were responsible for most of variation among genotypes. The cluster analysis showed that genotypes Ausun, line-1, line-2, line-3, 17578, 17570, line-6, line-7 and 17562 are more diverse among all the genotypes.

Productivity of sunflower hybrids with erectoid leaves at various plant densities

We carried out the research in 2018–2019 in the Western Ciscaucasia on leached chernozem, low-humus, extra-heavy, heavy-loamy to study the possibility of cultivation of new sunflower genotypes with a compact habitus at a high plant density (80 000, 100 000 and 120 000 plants/ha) and a row width of 35 cm. We chose sunflower hybrids of the breeding of V.S. Pustovoit All-Russian Research Institute of Oil Crops with the normal (Triumph and Berkut) and the erectoid (Triumph er-2, Triumph Er-3, Berkut er-2, Berkut Er-3) leaf position as an object of research. The high lodging capacity of the erectoid hybrids Triumph еr-2 (30.2%) and Triumph Еr-3 (10.9%) suggests potential yield losses due to non-threshing of heads during the combine harvesting. The highest productivity and oil content of seeds of normal and erectoid hybrids was obtained at the plant density of 80 000 plants/ha. The densification of sowings to 100 000 and 120 000 plants/ha led to a decrease in the traits of yield structure and productivity. The limited resources of the environment do not allow achieving both high productivity and product quality in sowings with the plant density exceeding 80 000 plants/ha. The compact habitus of sunflower plants is not a determining factor in the development of productivity of sowings with a high plant density.

Sunflower genotypes tolerance to charcoal rot (Macrophomina phaseolina (Tassi) Goid.) under the field conditions

Sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) is one of the most important crops grown in the world, but it can be attacked by more than 30 different pathogens. The areal of Macrophomina phaseolina (Tassi) Goid., one of the sunflower pathogens nowadays often found in temperate regions, has been spreading over the last few years due to climate change. The most effective eco-friendly method for controlling charcoal rot caused by M. phaseolina is growing resistant sunflower cultivars. Due to that, 24 commercially available hybrids and 70 inbred lines were tested for M. phaseolina tolerance in a two-year trial. Under the field conditions, two different inoculation methods were used - the Unwounded Stem Base Inoculation (USBI) and Toothpick (TP) method. This study identified five highly tolerant hybrids and 12 inbred lines that can be used in breeding programs for improvement of future genotypes. Sunflower genotype screening tests for Macrophomina tolerance indicated that both inoculation methods should be applied together to provide reliable results, and that stem lesion length is a reliable trait for disease severity assessments.

Evaluation of Irrigation Frequencies and Seed Priming with Plant Nutrients on Growth and Yield of Sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) Genotypes

Evaluation of Irrigation Frequencies and Seed Priming with Plant Nutrients on Growth and Yield of Sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) Genotypes

Leaf metabolomic data of eight sunflower lines and their sixteen hybrids under water deficit

This article describes how metabolomic data were produced on sunflower plants subjected to water deficit. Twenty-four sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) genotypes were selected to represent genetic diversity within cultivated sunflower and included both inbred lines and their hybrids. Drought stress was applied at the vegetative stage to plants cultivated in pots using the high-throughput phenotyping facility Heliaphen. Here, we provide untargeted and targeted metabolomic data of sunflower leaves. These compositional data differentiate both plant water status and different genotype groups. They constitute a valuable resource for the community to study the adaptation of crops to drought and the metabolic bases of heterosis.

Genetic variability, character association and divergence studies in sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) for improvement in oil yield

Present experiment was conducted on 32 sunflower genotypes (11 CMS lines and 21 Restorer lines) on the basis of their diverse origin, growth habit, phenology and adaptation with an object to assess variation in oil yield attributing traits. The total variability consisting heritable and non-heritable components of the characters were estimated by genotypic (GCV) and phenotypic (PCV) coefficient of variation, heritability and genetic advance (GA) and the best positive traits for sunflower improvement through selection and breeding were assessed. All the characters among the different genotypes exhibited significant variation. Oil yield was highly significant and positively correlated with seed yield (kg/ha) (0.95), number of filled grain/head (0.85), grain filling% (0.65), days to 50% flowering (0.417), plant height (0.33). Seed yield (kg/ha) was highly significant and positively correlated with plant height (0.33), head diameter (0.30). Seed yield (kg/ha) varied from 625 (CMS-16A) to 1120(CMS-302A) in lines and 576 (EC-601751) to 1221(R-630) in testers respectively. The highest 100 seed weight and hull content (%) was obtained from P-2-7-1A. Seed yield, oil yield (kg/ha) and numbers of filled grains were obtained from EC 601978. Genotypes were classified into eight distinct clusters with a maximum inter distance observed between cluster VI and VII. The experiment assisted to identify the superior genotype among diverse genotypes of sunflower which can act as parents with desirable traits like number of filled grain/head, volume weight/100 ml, 100 seed weight, oil content and seed yield/plant for further breeding purposes.

Development of High Oleic Acid Safflower Through Introgression Using Exotic Germplasm

Four exotic high oleic acid safflower germplasm and five conventional high linoleic acid varieties were taken for crossing in this investigation. Nine F2:3progenies of the crosses were screened for fatty acid profile. The fatty acid C18:1 recorded retention time of 18.20 minutes where as C18:2 recorded the retention time of 19.17 minute. Among the five crosses of F3 progenies EC-755669 x GMU-370878.06), SSF-748 x EC-755659 (47.11), Nari-57 x EC-755681 (40.37) and Nari-57 x EC-755669 (39.89) mg/g of oleic acid showing improvement in oleic acid content. The amplification of genomic DNA of F3 progenies of EC-755669 x EC-523373 and EC-755669 x GMU-3708 crosses with three SCAR primers linked with high oleic acid trait showed expected amplicon of 365, 730 and 150 bp with CAR FAD2–1, IASCA-73, IASCA-74 primers. The high linoleic acid parents SSF708, Nari-57, GMU-3708, SAF-1244 and SSF-748 also exhibited an expected amplification band when amplified with high linolate specific SCAR primer. The cross transferability with ORS-371 (550bp), ORS-488 (180 bp) and N1–3F (280bp) SSR primer which are previously used in high and low oleate sunflower genotypes is confirmed in our study with expected amplicon in F3 EC-755669 x EC-533373 and EC-755669 x GMU-3708.

Evaluation of sunflower genotypes for Alternaria disease resistance to identify the resistant genotypes

Alternaria leaf spot caused by Alternaria helianthi has been considered as economically important disease. The present study was carried out to identify resistant or moderately resistant genotypes against the Alternaria leaf spot in field screening and artificial screening. Out of 115 genotypes screened in field 31 genotypes were moderately resistant, 60 genotypes were susceptible whereas 24 genotypes were highly susceptible. Resistance to Alternaria is reported to exhibit differential reactions with the environment, hence field screening alone is insufficient while choosing genotypes for further resistance breeding programme. Therefore genotypes which showed moderate resistance (31) and high susceptibility (24) were screened artificially, along with 4 checks. Moderate resistant reaction for Alternaria leaf blight disease was observed in 1B, COSF 7B, CSFI 5083, CSFI 5181, CSFI 5213, CSFI 5276, CSFI 5292, CSFI 5336, POP 449-1-2-4, CSFI 13034, CSFI 13043 and TNHSF 239-68-1-1-1, when artificially screened. These genotypes may be evaluated in hot spot areas along with the resistant check to confirm their disease reaction. Hence these genotypes are considered as potential parents for Alternaria resistance breeding programme.

Proteomic data from leaves of twenty-four sunflower genotypes under water deficit

This article describes a proteomic data set produced from sunflower plants subjected to water deficit. Twenty-four sunflower genotypes were selected to represent genetic diversity within cultivated sunflower. They included both inbred lines and their hybrids. Water deficit was applied to plants in pots at the vegetative stage using the high-throughput phenotyping platform Heliaphen. We present here the identification of 3062 proteins and the quantification of 1211 of them in the leaves of the 24 genotypes grown under two watering conditions. These data allow the study of both the effects of genetic variations and watering conditions. They constitute a valuable resource for the community to study adaptation of crops to drought and the molecular basis of heterosis.

EVALUATION OF SUNFLOWER GENOTYPES (HELIANTHUS ANNUUS L.) AS BEDDING PLANTS IN THE COASTAL ECOSYSTEM

The sunflower genotypes were evaluated to check their suitability as bedding plants for use in future trials to standardize their production technology in the coastal ecosystem. Fifty genotypes were evaluated which was laid out in a randomized block design replicated thrice. The experiment was conducted in the Floriculture Unit of the Department of Horticulture, Faculty of Agriculture, Annamalai University. The vegetative parameters viz., plant height, number of leaves, leaf area, foliage rating and the flowering parameters viz., days to first flowering, flower diameter, ray floret arrangement and flower rating were observed. The cultivar with an outstanding overall performance was ‘Ring of Fire’ which has glowing golden yellow and reddish brown petals forming an indistinct ring around the dark center. This cultivar was found to be suitable as bedding plant in the coastal ecosystem in terms of all the vegetative and flowering parameters

Multivariate analysis in sunflower genotypes for yield associated traits

Development and evaluation of genetics resources are an essential part of sunflower breeding. To evolve the potential heterotic hybrids in sunflower, plant breeding studies are being carried out for the selection of promising parental inbreds for various yield attributed traits. Ninety -one sunflower germplasm accessions were evaluated for seven quantitative traits during Rabi 2018-19 and data were subjected to biometric analysis for correlation and Principal Component Analysis. PCA analysis revealed that, out of 7 PCs, only 3 PCs exhibited more than 1.0 Eigenvalue and showed 71.45% variability for 91 genotypes. PC1 reported for highest variability in traits like days to 50% flowering and days to maturity. PC3 showed the positive load on yield attributing traits like hundred seed weight and single plant yield. PC1 and PC3 allowed for simultaneous selection of yield related traits. Maximum PC value found in genotypes TSG 349, GP6-313, CPI 1, CPI 12, CMS PET89B, NDI11, PM155, PM81, DRSF113, GP6 1075, TSG 331 and SCG 103 would be of practical value in sunflower breeding for identifying genotypes with specific traits for utilization in the breeding programme.

Determination of Characteristics Properties of Some Sunflower Seed in Erzurum and Iğdır Irrigated Conditions

This research was carried out between the years of 2015-2016 in order todetermine the seed properties of some sunflower genotypes in Erzurum and Iğdır irrigated conditions. In this study seven type of (Coral, P4Ll62, Pactol, Lg5580, Tarsan, 08Tr003, Cadix) sunflower cultivars were used and grain length, width, thickness, dehulled seed (internal rate of grain) and shell ratio of the samples were examined. In this study significant were found the other features except seed width and thickness where some sunflower of grown in different location. In the designed location in Erzurum; grain length, width, thickness, dehulled seed were determined as 11.8–13.4 mm (Coral: P4Ll62), 5.8-6.2 mm (Coral: Lg5580 and Tarsan), 3.5-4.4 mm (Coral and Pactol: Cadix), 16.3-21.3 mm (Cadix: P4Ll62 and Tarsan 1018) and 56.3-76.3 mm (Tarsan and Cadix: P4Ll62). In the designated location in Iğdır, these values ranged between 11.5-14.2 mm (Coral: P4Ll62), 5.5-6.5 mm (Pactol: Tarsan 1018 and Cadix), 3.6-4.1 mm (Coral and Pactol: Cadix), 16.7-26.7mm (P4Ll62 and Pactol: Cadix) and 66.7-81.7 mm (Pactol: Cadix) respectively. According to these results, the designated location for this research in Iğdır come in to prominence in terms of the investigated properties.

A Greenhouse Method to Evaluate Sunflower Quantitative Resistance to Basal Stalk Rot Caused by Sclerotinia sclerotiorum

Resistance of sunflower to basal stalk rot (BSR) caused by the fungus Sclerotinia sclerotiorum is quantitative, controlled by multiple genes contributing small effects. Consequently, artificial inoculation procedures allowing sufficient throughput and resolution of resistance are needed to identify highly resistant sunflower germplasm resources and to map loci contributing to resistance. The objective of this study was to develop a greenhouse-based method for evaluating sunflower quantitative resistance to BSR that would be simple, space- and time-efficient, high throughput, high resolution, and correlated with field observations. Experiments were conducted with 5-week-old sunflower plants and Sclerotinia-infested millet seed as inoculum to assess the impact of pot size and temperature and to determine the most favorable inoculum rate and placement. Subsequently, an additional experiment was performed to assess the correlation of the greenhouse inoculation procedure with field results by using a panel of 32 sunflower genotypes with known field response to BSR previously determined in multiyear, multilocation artificially inoculated trials. Experimental observations indicated that the newly developed greenhouse inoculation procedure provided improved resolution to identify highly resistant genotypes and was strongly correlated with field observations. This method will be useful for screening of sunflower experimental and breeding materials, disease phenotyping of genetic mapping populations, and evaluation of resistance to different pathogen isolates.

Effect of Humic Acid Application on Growth and Productivity of Sunflower Under Saline Soil Conditions

A field experiment was conducted at El-bostan Farm, Faculty of Agriculture, Damanhur University in the two successive summer seasons of 2018 and 2019. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of humic acid application on sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) growth, yield & its components and some chemical constituents grown under saline soil conditions.The experiment was laid out in a split plot design in four replicates. The main plots were occupied by three sunflower genotypes Sakha 53, Giza 102 and Line 120. While subplots contained four treatments of humic acid (HA) i.e.; without HA (control), HA soil application, foliar HA spray and a combination of both foliar spray and soil addition of HA. The results showed that, different genotypes did not perform similarly under salinity stress conditions. Line 120 had the highest leaf area/plant, head diameter, seed yield/ plant and seed yield/ha. With regard to humic acid application, it caused improvement for most growth, physiological parameters, yield and its components compared to control. Obtained results also, showed that humic acid application as both soil and foliar spray on Line 120 and Sakha 53 led to obtain the highest values of most studied parameters in the two growing seasons. Finally, it could be concluded that humic acid application can ameliorate negative effects of salinity on sunflower.

Digital Image Analysis Using FloCIA Software for Ornamental Sunflower Ray Floret Color Evaluation.

As an esthetic trait, ray floret color has a high importance in the development of new sunflower genotypes and their market value. Standard methodology for the evaluation of sunflower ray florets is based on International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV) guidelines for sunflower. The major deficiency of this methodology is the necessity of high expertise from evaluators and its high subjectivity. To test the hypothesis that humans cannot distinguish colors equally, six commercial sunflower genotypes were evaluated by 100 agriculture experts, using UPOV guidelines. Moreover, the paper proposes a new methodology for sunflower ray floret color classification – digital UPOV (dUPOV), that relies on software image analysis but still leaves the final decision to the evaluator. For this purpose, we created a new Flower Color Image Analysis (FloCIA) software for sunflower ray floret digital image segmentation and automatic classification into one of the categories given by the UPOV guidelines. To assess the benefits and relevance of this method, accuracy of the newly developed software was studied by comparing 153 digital photographs of F2 genotypes with expert evaluator answers which were used as the ground truth. The FloCIA enabled visualizations of segmentation of ray floret images of sunflower genotypes used in the study, as well as two dominant color clusters, percentages of pixels belonging to each UPOV color category with graphical representation in the CIE (International Commission on Illumination) L∗a∗b∗ (or simply Lab) color space in relation to the mean vectors of the UPOV category. Precision (repeatability) of ray flower color determination was greater between dUPOV based expert color evaluation and software evaluation than between two UPOV based evaluations performed by the same expert. The accuracy of FloCIA software used for unsupervised (automatic) classification was 91.50% on the image dataset containing 153 photographs of F2 genotypes. In this case, the software and the experts had classified 140 out of 153 of images in the same color categories. This visual presentation can serve as a guideline for evaluators to determine the dominant color and to conclude if more than one significant color exists in the examined genotype.