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Title: SIMMONDSIN AND WAX ESTER LEVELS IN 100 HIGH-YIELDING JOJOBA CLONES

Author
item PURCELL, HAL - PURCELL JOJOBA INTL
item Abbott Dr, Thomas
item Holser, Ronald
item Phillips, Bliss

Submitted to: Industrial Crops and Products
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/12/2000
Publication Date: 9/18/2000
Citation: PURCELL, H.C., ABBOTT DR, T.P., HOLSER, R.A., PHILLIPS, B.S. SIMMONDSIN AND WAX ESTER LEVELS IN 100 HIGH-YIELDING JOJOBA CLONES. INDUSTRIAL CROPS AND PRODUCTS. 12:151-157. 2000.

Interpretive Summary: Jojoba is a new crop in the desert Southwestern U.S. that has a good market for its unique oil. The rest of the seed had been a waste product until a natural hunger-fighting agent was found in the seed meal after the oil was removed. In order to select jojoba plants for growing new fields, the plants that are the top 100 oil producing plants in the U.S. were analyzed for oil and hunger-fighting ingredient over a 3-year period in cooperation with the jojoba industry. As a result of this study, the U.S. jojoba industry can plant new fields that produce more of the valuable oil and simmondsin per acre than any other jojoba growers in the world.

Technical Abstract: This 3-year study examines differences in simmondsin and wax ester production by 100 previously identified high-yielding jojoba clones. Over the past 3 years, the USDA, ARS, National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research (NCAUR) analyzed seed samples from Purcell Jojoba International's large 17-year old Variety Trial Program. These 100 clones were the top producers out of 1,523 clones that had been mass-selected from more than 1.5 million, open-pollinated, female plants. Broad selection criteria were applied to retain a healthy degree of the natural plants' heterogeneity and hybrid vigor. In this study, one female clone produced 82% higher simmondsin levels than the mean of the 100 clones analyzed. Another clone produced 16% higher liquid wax ester levels than industry average. A few clones had high levels of both simmondsins and esters. In addition, the differences in fatty acid and fatty alcohol among the clones were also studied. These analyses help provide a strong foundation for major growth of the jojoba industry.