QTL for phytosterol and sinapate ester content in Brassica napus L. collocate with the two erucic acid genes

Improving oil and protein quality for food and feed purposes is an important goal in rapeseed (Brassica napus L.) breeding programs. Rapeseed contains phytosterols, used to enrich food products, and sinapate esters, which are limiting the utilization of rapeseed proteins in the feed industry. Increasing the phytosterol content of oil and lowering sinapate ester content of meal could increase the value of the oilseed rape crop. The objective of the present study was to identify quantitative trait loci (QTL) for phytosterol and sinapate ester content in a winter rapeseed population of 148 doubled haploid lines, previously found to have a large variation for these two traits. This population also segregated for the two erucic acid genes. A close negative correlation was found between erucic acid and phytosterol content (Spearman’s rank correlation, rs = −0.80**). For total phytosterol content, three QTL were detected, explaining 60% of the genetic variance. The two QTL with the strongest additive effects were mapped on linkage groups N8 and N13 within the confidence intervals of the two erucic acid genes. For sinapate ester content four QTL were detected, explaining 53% of the genetic variance. Again, a close negative correlation was found between erucic acid and sinapate ester content (rs = −0.66**) and the QTL with the strongest additive effects mapped on linkage groups N8 and N13 within the confidence intervals of the two erucic acid genes. The results suggests, that there is a pleiotropic effect of the two erucic acid genes on phytosterol and sinapate ester content; the effect of the alleles for low erucic acid content is to increase phytosterol and sinapate ester content. Possible reasons for this are discussed based on known biosynthetic pathways

Functional properties of linseed meal fractions: Application as nutraceutical ingredient

Brown linseed (Linum ustatissimum) is pressed to produce oil, and the remaining linseed meal is rich in protein and soluble dietary fiber. To utilize the derivatives of linseed meal as food ingredients or additives, linseed meal was fractionated by controlling pH on a pilot-plant scale. Chemical composition, functional properties and health-related bioactivities, such as angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibition and antioxidant activities, of the fractions were then analyzed. The alkaline soluble protein had the highest content of secoisolariciresinol diglucoside (SDG) and showed good emulsification activity, comparable to that of whole egg. The acid-soluble fraction showed the highest viscosity. ACE inhibition, antioxidant activities, and bile acid binding activity were observed in the soluble dietary fiber fraction. There was no correlation between SDG content and bioactivities. These findings indicate that the acid-soluble fraction is useful as a food ingredient to increase viscosity, while the soluble dietary fiber fraction has health-related features