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ARS Home » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #124318
Title: SIMILARITIES IN YEARLY OIL AND PROTEIN CONCENTRATIONS IN SEED OF SOYBEAN, CANOLA-RAPE, AND FLAX GROWN IN THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA

Author
item YAKLICH, ROBERT
item DAUN, J
item DECLERCQ, D

Submitted to: Journal of the American Oil Chemists' Society
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/16/2002
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: Soybean, canola-rape and flax seed are important because of their oil and protein content. Variation in seed composition at different locations and in different years causes problems for seed processors because oil products have to be blended to obtain a uniform product and the resulting protein meal after the oil is extracted does not always meet marketing standards for protein concentration. Two historical data sets for soybean from the U. S. and a canola-rape and flax seed data set from Canada were investigated to determine if yearly climate variations influenced the trend in the year-to-year oil and protein concentration of these oil seed crops. It was found that comparisons of the year-to- year change in oil and protein concentration were similar for many years for soybean and for most of the years for canola-rape and flax seed oil and protein. These data indicate that yearly climate variations affect oil and protein concentration of these crops over a large geographic area and that changes in climate may be responsible for the variation in oil and protein concentration in these oil seed crops. This information will help scientists determine how combinations of environmental factors contribute to the yearly oil and protein content of these crops and may allow agricultural economists to develop models to predict crop protein and oil concentrations using weather data.

Technical Abstract: There is ample evidence in the literature that growing conditions affect the composition of the seed resulting in variation in seed composition across locations and years. There are few long-term comparisons of year- to-year variation in composition of seeds of major oil seed crops and a study to compare year-to-year variation in oil and protein concentration in soybean, canola-rape, and flax, grown in the United States and Canada are reported here. Soybean oil and protein data were obtained from 51 years of Uniform Soybean Tests, Northern and Southern Regions and canola and flax data were obtained from 43 years of Canadian Grain Commission growers surveys. Comparison of oil concentration and protein concentration in the Uniform Soybean Tests, Southern and Northern Regions showed they increased or decreased together from their previous years values in 36 of the 50 years (72%) and 33 of 50 years (66%), respectively. Comparison of canola-rape and flax oil concentration and protein concentration showed they increased or decreased together from their previous years values in 32 of the 42 years (74%) and 38 of 42 years (88%), respectively. Comparison of oil to protein ratios of canola-rape and flax showed that they increased or decreased together in 42 of the 43 years (97%) and comparison of protein to oil ratios of the Uniform Soybean Tests, Southern and Northern Regions showed they increased or decreased together in 27 of the 51 years (57%). These data indicate that climate strongly influences the year-to-year concentration of oil and protein in three major oil seed crops grown in the United States and Canada over a large geographical area.