ARS | Publication request: A survey of the castor oil content, seed weight and seed-coat colour on the United States Department of Agriculture germplasm collection.

Submitted to: Plant Genetic Resources: Characterization and Utilization
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: July 8, 2010
Publication Date: July 23, 2010
Repository URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10113/49886
Citation: Wang, M.L., Morris, J.B., Pinnow, D.L., Davis, J., Raymer, P., Pederson, G.A. 2010. A survey of the castor oil content, seed weight and seed-coat colour on the United States Department of Agriculture germplasm collection. Plant Genetic Resources: Characterization and Utilization. 8:229-231.

Interpretive Summary: Castor bean is an important non-edible oilseed crop. It can be grown in drought areas such as Texas and New Mexico and potentially be used as a feedstock for biodiesel production. Cultivars with a high percentage of oil content in seeds are preferred for biodiesel production. There are 1033 accessions in the USDA castor bean germplasm collection. The range of oil content in these accessions has never been surveyed. For exploiting castor bean as a feedstock for biodiesel production, the entire USDA castor bean collection was requested from the seed bank. The castor seed oil content has been measured by a non-destructive method, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). The variation of oil content ranged from 37.2% to 60.6% with an average of 48.2%. The 100-seed weight was measured and seed-coat color was also recorded. The range of 100-seed weight was from 10.1g to 73.3g with an average of 28.3g. There was significant correlation between oil content and 100-seed weight (r = 0.1572, p <0.0001) detected, however the correlation coefficient was low and the significant p-value was influenced by the large sample size. Over fifty accessions with a wide range of oil content were selected to be grown in the field for further evaluation. The results obtained from this survey will be useful for castor bean breeders seeking germplasm accessions with high oil content to develop cultivars for biodiesel production.

Technical Abstract: Castor bean is an important non-edible oilseed crop that can potentially be used as feedstock for biodiesel production. Cultivars with a high percentage of oil content in seeds are preferred for biodiesel production. There are 1033 accessions in the USDA castor bean germplasm collection. The range of oil content in these accessions has never been surveyed. For exploiting castor bean as a feedstock for biodiesel production, the entire USDA castor bean collection was requested from the seed bank and a protocol was developed for accurately measuring oil content with nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). The variation of oil content ranged from 37.2% to 60.6% with an average of 48.2%. The 100-seed weight was measured and seed-coat color was also recorded. The range of 100-seed weight was from 10.1g to 73.3g with an average of 28.3g. There was significant correlation between oil content and 100-seed weight (r = 0.1572, p <0.0001) detected, however the correlation coefficient was low and the significant p-value was influenced by the large sample size. Over fifty accessions with a wide range of oil content were selected to be grown in the field for further evaluation. The protocol developed for oil content measurement in this study will be useful for castor bean processors. The results obtained from this survey are being deposited in GRIN database and will be useful for castor bean breeders seeking germplasm accessions with high oil content in the USDA germplasm collection.