title: Oil and fatty acid contents in seed of Citrullus lanatus Schrad.
abstract: Intact seed of 475 genebank accessions of  Citrullus  ( C. lanatus  var. lanatus and C. lanatus var. citroides) were analyzed for percent oil content using TD-NMR. Extracts from whole seed of 96 accessions of C. lanatus (30 var. citroides, 33 var. lanatus, and 33 egusi),  C. colocynthis  (n = 3),  C. ecirrhosus  (n = 1),  C. rehmii  (n = 1), and  Benincasa fistulosa  (n = 3) were also analyzed for their fatty acids content. Among the materials analyzed, seed oil content varied from 14.8 to 43.5%. Mean seed oil content in egusi types of C. lanatus was significantly higher (mean = 35.6%) than that of either var. lanatus (mean = 23.2%) or var. citroides (mean = 22.6%). Egusi types of C. lanatus had a significantly lower hull/kernel ratio when compared to other C. lanatus var. lanatus or C. lanatus var. citroides. The principal fatty acid in all C. lanatus materials examined was linoleic acid (43.6-73%). High levels of linoleic acid were also present in the materials of C. colocynthis (71%), C. ecirrhosus (62.7%), C. rehmii (75.8%), and B. fistulosa (73.2%), which were included for comparative purposes. Most all samples contained traces (<0.5%) of arachidonic acid. The data presented provide novel information on the range in oil content and variability in the concentrations of individual fatty acids present in a diverse array of C. lanatus, and its related species, germplasm.
authors.affiliation: Plant Genetic Resources, Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture , 1109 Experiment Street, Griffin, Georgia 30223, USA. bob.jarret@ars.usda.gov
authors.forename: Robert L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Jarret
authors.forename: Irvin J
authors.initials: IJ
authors.lastname: Levy
mesh_terms: D029773:Citrullus / Q000737:chemistry*; D005227:Fatty Acids / Q000032:analysis*; D019787:Linoleic Acid / Q000032:analysis; D010938:Plant Oils / Q000032:analysis*; D012639:Seeds / Q000737:chemistry*; D013045:Species Specificity
chemical_list: D005227:Fatty Acids; D010938:Plant Oils; D019787:Linoleic Acid