Bd. Harch et al., PATTERNS OF DIVERSITY IN FATTY-ACID COMPOSITION IN THE AUSTRALIAN GROUNDNUT GERMPLASM COLLECTION, Genetic resources and crop evolution, 42(3), 1995, pp. 243-256
Knowledge of the amounts and types of fatty acids in groundnut oil is
beneficial, particularly from a nutritional standpoint. Germplasm eval
uation data for fatty acid composition on 819 accessions of groundnut
(Arachis hypogaea L.) from the Australian Tropical Field Crops Genetic
Resource Centre, Biloela, Queensland were examined. Data for eight qu
antitative fatty acid descriptors have been documented. Statistical as
sessment, via methods of pattern analysis, summarised and described th
e patterns of variation in fatty acid composition of the groundnut acc
essions in the Australian germplasm collection. Presentation of the re
sults from principal components analysis and hierarchical cluster anal
ysis using a biplot was shown to be a very useful interpretative tool.
Such a biplot enables a simultaneous examination of the relationships
among all the accessions and the fatty acids. Unlike that information
available via database searches, the results from contribution analys
is together with the biplot provide a global picture of the diversity
available for use in plant breeding programs. The use of standardised
data for eight fatty acids, compared to using three specific fatty aci
ds, provided a better description of the total diversity available bec
ause it remains relevant with possible changes in the nutritional pref
erences for fatty acids. Fatty acid composition was found to vary in r
elation to the branching pattern of the accessions. This pattern is ge
nerally indicative of the botanical types of groundnuts; Virginia (alt
ernate) compared to Spanish and Valencia (sequential) botanical types.