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ARS Home » Plains Area » Fargo, North Dakota » Edward T. Schafer Agricultural Research Center » Sunflower and Plant Biology Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #147659
Title: REGISTRATION OF TWO SUNFLOWER GENETIC STOCKS WITH REDUCED PALMITIC AND STEARIC ACIDS

Author
item Vick, Brady
item Jan, Chao-Chien
item Miller, Jerry

Submitted to: Crop Science
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 9/30/2002
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: Studies have shown that high levels of saturated fat consumption are correlated with increased risk of coronary heart disease. Traditional sunflower oil having about 13% saturated fatty acids is considered low compared to most vegetable oils, but canola oil is lower with about 7% saturated fatty acids, and remains a major competitor to sunflower oil in the marketplace. For sunflower oil to compete with canola oil and other vegetable oils with low saturated fatty acid content, it is desirable to decrease the saturated fat level of sunflower oil. The USDA-ARS Sunflower Research Unit has recently released several new germplasm stocks with reduced palmitic and stearic acids, the major saturated fatty acids of sunflower oil. RS1 and RS2 are two reduced saturated fatty acid sunflower genetic stocks that were developed by continuous selection from PI 250542, a sunflower accession collected in Egypt in the 1950s. This accession was identified by us as a potential source of reduced saturated fatty acids after screening 884 cultivated sunflower accessions from the USDA-ARS North Central Regional Plant Introduction Station in Ames, Iowa, for fatty acid composition.

Technical Abstract: The USDA-ARS Sunflower Research Unit has recently released several new germplasm stocks with reduced palmitic and stearic acids, the major saturated fatty acids of sunflower oil. RS1 and RS2 are two reduced saturated fatty acid sunflower genetic stocks that were developed by continuous selection from PI 250542, a sunflower accession collected in Egypt in the 1950s. This accession was identified by us as a potential source of reduced saturated fatty acids after screening 884 cultivated sunflower accessions from the USDA-ARS North Central Regional Plant Introduction Station in Ames, Iowa, for fatty acid composition.