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ARS Home » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #73666
Title: AN ONLINE CHEMICAL DATABASE FOR NEW CROP SEEDS

Author
item Abbott Dr, Thomas
item Phillips, Bliss
item BUTTERFIELD, ROYDEN - 3620-85-01
item Isbell, Terry
item KLEIMAN, ROBERT - RETIRED, USDA/ARS/NCAUR

Submitted to: Journal of the American Oil Chemists' Society
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/11/1997
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: The vegetable oils found in wild seeds are not all the same. Many have unique features of interest to industry, like jojoba oil which is used in the cosmetics industry. Over a period of 38 years, 15,738 seed samples were collected and many analyzed here at the National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research in Peoria, Illinois. Some of the results were published in scientific journals, but now the information has been made available in a searchable bank of information. Using a computer and the Internet, anyone around the world can look into this bank and search it for the type of seed or oil in which they have an interest. This paper introduces the data bank, tells where it can be found and how to use it. Without this paper, fewer people would know about the data bank, only some would be able to make good use of it and there would be no citable reference for the data bank itself.

Technical Abstract: Since the 1950's, a database of the chemical composition of seeds, collected throughout the world, has been generated at the National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research. Information contained in the database is primarily selected chemical and physical properties of seed oils. Over more than 38 years, 15,738 accessions of 7,924 species of 2,339 genuses from 225 families were collected and analyzed. This database is now accessible on the Internet at http://www.ncaur.gov/nc/ncdb/search.htm. This paper gives an overview of the database, describes the information available and illustrates how to do searches.