Variation in the seed and oil yields and oil quality in the Indian germplasm of opium poppy Papaver somniferum

The variation in the seed shape, colour and yield, and content, yield and f atty acid composition of seed oil of 109 accessions of opium poppy Papaver somniferum, (majority of them Indian land races), was investigated. The see ds were white, pale yellow or light brown in colour, reniform or round in s hape and varied in size up to three fold. The oil content, seed and the oil yield varied between 26 to 52%, 1.0 to 7.4 g/plant and 0.4 to 2.7 g/plant, respectively. The % content of palmitic, oleic and linoleic acid in the se ed oil ranged between 9.3 to 40.0%, 7.5 to 58.4% and 0.7 to 72.7%, respecti vely. On average basis, the levels of major fatty acids in the seed oil wer e: oleic (37.1%) > palmitic (27.3%) > linoleic acid (17.2%). The palmitolei c, stearic and linolenic acids were present in the oils of only some of the accessions. Two of the accessions yielded linoleic acid rich seed oil of a bout the same quality as soybean and maize oils, and in four accessions, th e proportion of palmitic, oleic and linoleic acids was roughly equal. The p almitic acid was relatively less and linoleic acid more in the seed oil fro m accessions rich in oil content. The oil that contained higher amount of o leic acid also contained higher amount of palmitic acid and relatively lowe r amount of linoleic acid. The correlation analyses revealed a strong posit ive relationship between seed yield and oil yield (r = +0.81), oil yield an d oil content (r = +0.54) and oleic acid and palmitic acid content in the s eed oil (r = +0.49), and a weak positive relationship between oil content a nd linoleic acid content of oil (r = +0.24), and a negative correlation was observed between oil content and palmitic acid content (r = -0.32), palmit ic acid and linoleic acid (r = -0.55) and oleic acid and linoleic acid cont ents of oil (r = -0.68). The observations have permitted selection of acces sions that are high seed and oil yielding and/or rich in linoleic, palmitic and oleic acids or containing palmitic, oleic and linoleic acids in about equal amounts.