United Kingdom
December 4, 2008
Source:
Home-Grown
Cereals Authority (HGCA)
Crop Research News 59
Growing high oleic low
linolenic (HOLL) oilseed rape for specialised markets
by Jim Orson of TAG, Elaine Booth of SAC Aberdeen, Colin
Merritt of Monsanto UK Ltd. andCliff Lea of FUCHS Lubricants
plc.
HGCA Project Number: 3039. Price: 4.50
The rapeseed oils from HOLL (high
oleic and low linolenic) varieties are more suited to some food
uses, notably frying oil, and also possibly for biolubricants.
Splendor, the first commercial winter HOLL oilseed rape variety,
was sown on six sites in major arable areas in England and
Scotland over three years.
Site and season were the most likely causes of variation in
fatty acid profiles. The lowest content of the key fatty acid,
oleic acid, was consistently found at the Scottish site. Input
management had no or little impact on fatty acid profiles.
Harvesting a crop before it was completely ripe may result in
lower oleic acid content. Commercially, delaying harvest results
in a less desirable fatty acid profile.
Oil from Splendor was not directly suitable for the key range of
biolubricants and further increases in oleic acid content are
required. The desired scale of these increases may only be
possible with genetic modification.
Volunteers of previous more conventional crops had minimal
effect on the fatty acid profile after a three year break from
the previous oilseed rape where cultivations were carried out
after harvest to minimise the dormancy of shed seed. This, along
with the fact that the ingress of pollen from neighbouring
fields has little or no impact on the fatty acid profile of the
seed, suggests an opportunity for the UK to grow a significant
area of HOLL varieties.
The results show that responses to fungicides are not assured
and their use needs to be considered on a field-by-field basis.
A malate test early in the season did not reliably predict the
sulphur requirement of the current crop at the time S needs to
be applied. |
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