Variation and inheritance of oil content and fatty acid composition in niger (Guizotia abyssinica)

Niger (Guizotia abyssinica) is an economically important edible oilseed crop with a wide variation in seed oil content and fatty acid composition between populations. This study sought to determine the extent of this variation among the Ethiopian niger populations and to analyze the inheritance of high oil and oleic acid (C18:1) contents. The analysis of 153 niger populations revealed a twofold variation in seed oil content (27-56%) with 7% of the populations having more than 50% oil. These high oil content populations came from different regions and a wide altitudinal range (1400-2590 m asl). There was also a high variation in oleic acid content between populations (3.3-31.1%). Interestingly, the populations with more than 13% oleic acid were entirely collected from elevations of less than 2000 m asl. Breeding of selected genotypes for two generations revealed a highly significant positive correlation between the parents and their progenies both in oil and oleic acid contents. The study also suggests a significant contribution of environmental factors to the variation in both traits suggesting a moderate heritability. We conclude that there is a highly significant variation both in oil content and fatty acid composition in the niger populations that can be used for its improvement.