Increasing erucic acid content in the seed oil of rapeseed (Brassica napus L.) by combining selection for natural variation and transgenic approaches

Erucasäure (22:1) ist ein natürlicher Bestandteil der Speicherlipide traditioneller Rapssorten und ist als nachwachsender Rohstoff von Bedeutung für die oleochemische Industrie. Sie wird bei der Herstellung von Plastikfilmen, Nylon, Schmiermitteln, Weichmachern, etc. benötigt. Gegenwärtig zur Verfügung stehende Rapssorten enthalten nur etwa 50% Erucasäure im Samenöl. Eine deutliche Erhöhung des Erucasäuregehaltes könnte die Aufreinigungs- und Produktionskosten erheblich reduzieren und dadurch die Vermarktungsaussichten für die Erucasäure verbessern. Die vorliegende Arbeit beschreibt Ansätze zur züchterischen Erhöhung des Erucasäuregehaltes im Raps. Nach Kreuzung von Rapslinien mit genetisch verringertem Polyenfettsäuregehalt mit transgenen Rapslinien, die das fae1-Gen für die Bildung der Erucasäure überexprimieren und das LPAAT-Gen (Lysophosphatidsäure-Acyltransferase) aus Limnanthes douglasii exprimieren, konnten in den Nachkommenschaften rekombinierte Linien identifiziert werden, die bis zu 72% Erucasäure im Samenöl enthielten. Dieses Ergebnis stellt einen Meilenstein dar für die Züchtung von Rapssorten mit möglichst hohem Erucasäuregehalt

Quality Estimation of Canola Using Machine Vision and Vis-nir Spectroscopy

Canola is mainly graded either by visual inspection or by smelling. These methods are subjective in nature and are bound to cause errors while deciding the grade of canola. To test canola for amount of erucic acid present the sample needs to be sent to a laboratory for testing through wet chemical analysis. This is a time consuming process. An electronic method that can quantify amount of dockage, presence of distinctly green and heat treated seeds, distinguish samples on the basis of erucic acid, its free fatty acid content and PV, would not only be less time consuming but also would be a more reliable method to grade canola samples. Findings and Conclusions: 1. Canola samples cannot be classified on the basis of total dockage present using L and RGB data obtained from flat-bed scanner. Inclusion of morphological and textural features would improve the classification accuracy. 2. Machine vision can be considered as a potential method to grade canola on the basis of good, distinctly green and heat damagedBiosystems and Agricultural Engineerin

Exploring the capabilities of gas chromatography and liquid chromatography single and tandem mass spectrometry for discriminating and characterizing marine oils by using chemometric tools

Assessing the capabilities of instrumental techniques for discriminating marine oils and studying the positional distribution of fatty acids on the backbone of triacylglycerols (TAG) are of vital importance from commercial, nutritional, biochemical and technological points of view. This represents a great challenge for analysts due to the wide variety of fatty acids and the complexity of naturally occurring TAG species. In this thesis, the potential of gas chromatography (GC) for discriminating full fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) profiles of marine oils (cod liver, salmon, seal and whale oils) is evaluated by means of principal component analysis (PCA). The FAME profiles from plant oils such as rapeseed, linseed and soy oils and seven different brands of omega-3 (ω-3) fatty acids supplements are also used in the discrimination process. The results from the PCA plots can reliably distinguish between plant, ω-3 fatty acids supplements, fish and marine mammal oils. By removing the contribution of the ω-3 fatty acids supplements and plant oils, it is possible to discriminate within every type of fish and marine animal oils. GC offers a rapid, simple and convenient means of discriminating marine oils from different species, brands and grades. The thesis also studies the feasibility of fingerprinting and discriminating marine oils based on their TAG profiles using liquid chromatography electrospray single and tandem mass spectrometry (LC-ESI-MS and LC-ESI-MS2) in conjunction with chemometric tools. Four kinds of profiles, including total ion chromatogram (TIC) and mass spectral profiles derived from LC-ESI-MS and LC-ESI-MS2 experiments, are examined prior to data pretreatment by component detection algorithm (CODA) to reduce the noise and background. These profiles are subsequently subjected to PCA to evaluate their performance for discriminating marine oils and plant oils. The results show that the TIC profiles derived from both LC-ESI-MS and LC-ESI-MS2 experiments turn out to be inadequate for discrimination of complex marine oils. Although the classification results are remarkably improved by using single mass spectral profiles derived from LC-ESI-MS experiments, the differentiation among seal oils of different species and qualities is not achieved. In comparison, the use of tandem mass spectral profiles from LC-ESI-MS2 experiment is demonstrated to be the best strategy for discrimination of marine oils which enables the differentiation not only between marine oils and plant oils but also among the seal oils of different species and qualities. The tandem mass spectral profiles could preferably represent the characteristics of TAG patterns, and could be used as an alternative approach for fingerprinting and detecting of adulteration of marine oils. The final aspect studied in the present thesis is the structural characterization of TAG by using LC-ESI-MS2 for identifying the positional distribution of fatty acids on the glycerol backbone in cod liver oil. A computational algorithm is developed to characterize rapidly and interpret automatically the mass spectra of the various detected TAG species. Three different solvent mixtures are used to dissolve the sample prior to the instrumental analysis. The discrepancies between the results indicate that the choice of the solvent system influences the identification of the TAG species. The results obtained by the proposed LC-ESI-MS2 approach are in agreement with those from the well established lipase method. LC-ESI-MS2 provides a suitable and powerful strategy for the structural characterization of TAG in cod liver oil

Soybean

Soybean is an agricultural crop of tremendous economic importance. Soybean and food items derived from it form dietary components of numerous people, especially those living in the Orient. The health benefits of soybean have attracted the attention of nutritionists as well as common people

Determination of glucosinolates and isothiocyanates in glucosinolate-rich vegetables and oilseeds using infrared spectroscopy: A systematic review.

This is the final version. Available from Taylor & Francis via the DOI in this recordCruciferous vegetables and oilseeds are rich in glucosinolates that can transform into isothiocyanates upon enzymic hydrolysis during post-harvest handling, food preparation and/or digestion. Vegetables contain glucosinolates that have beneficial bioactivities, while glucosinolates in oilseeds might have anti-nutritional properties. It is therefore important to monitor and assess glucosinolates and isothiocyanates content through the food value chain as well as for optimized crop production. Vibrational spectroscopy methods, such as infrared (IR) spectroscopy, are used as a nondestructive, rapid and low-cost alternative to the current and common costly, destructive, and time-consuming techniques. This systematic review discusses and evaluates the recent literature available on the use of IR spectroscopy to determine glucosinolates and isothiocyanates in vegetables and oilseeds. NIR spectroscopy was used to predict glucosinolates in broccoli, kale, rocket, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, brown mustard, rapeseed, pennycress, and a combination of Brassicaceae family seeds. Only one study reported the use of NIR spectroscopy to predict broccoli isothiocyanates. The major limitations of these studies were the absence of the critical evaluation of errors associated with the reference method used to develop the calibration models and the lack of interpretation of loadings or regression coefficients used to predict glucosinolates.QUEX Institut

Molecular and metabolic characterization of assimilate uptake and storage product synthesis in Brassica napus

[no abstract

Plant secondary metabolites (PSMs) of Brassicaceae and their role in plant defense against insect herbivores – A review

The genus Brassica includes economically important oilseed and vegetable plants. A number of insect pests are known to infest these crops and cause significant losses in yield. The plants in the family Brassicaceae have multiple defense mechanisms to overcome or reduce the damage by these pests including defensive biochemicals. These Plant Secondary Metabolites (PSMs) involve myrosinase-glucosinolate system, different volatile com-pounds, lectins, phytoalexins and phytoanticipins. While some of the compounds are always present in the plant system, the others are synthesized after herbivore attack. These compounds can either directly protect the plant by having effect(s) on insects’ biology/behaviour or indirectly by attracting the natural enemies of the pests. Because of these secondary compounds, Brassicas have the potential to be used in pest management such as biofumigation against soil pests, as trap crops and cover crops and hence, can be a part of push-pull strategy. An attempt has been made to review these compounds in Brassicas, their role in defense against insects and potential in pest management

Genetic control of protein, oil and fatty acids content under partial drought stress and late sowing conditions in sunflower (Helianthus annuus)

The purpose of the present study was to map quantitative trait locus (QTLs) associated with percentage of seed protein, oil and fatty acids content under different conditions in a population of recombinant inbred lines (RILs) of sunflower. Three independent field experiments were conducted with well-, partial-irrigated and late-sowing conditions in randomized complete block design with three replications. High significant variation among genotypes is observed for the studied traits in all conditions. Several specific and non-specific QTLs for the aforementioned traits were detected. Under late-sowing condition, a specific QTL of palmitic acid content on linkage group 6 (PAC-LS.6) is located between ORS1233 and SSL66_1 markers. Common chromosomic regions are observed for percentage of seed oil and stearic acid content on linkage group 10 (PSO-PI.10 and SAC-WI.10) and 15 (PSO-PI.15 and SAC-LS.15). Overlapping occurs for QTLs of oleic and linoleic acids content on linkage groups 10, 11 and 16. Seven QTLs associated with palmitic, stearic, oleic and linoleic acids content are identified on linkage group 14. These common QTLs are linked to HPPD homologue, HuCL04260C001. Coincidence of the position for some detected QTLs and candidate genes involved in enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidants would be useful for the function of the respective genes in fatty acid stability.Key words: Sunflower, quantitative trait locus, simple sequence repeats, oil content, protein content, fatty acids