AGRICULTURE AND FORESTRY UNIVERSITY

RAMPUR, CHITWAN

Breeding For Oil Quality

Prepared By
Submitted To Punam Pokhrel
Assistant Professor: Khrishna Hari Dhakal PLB-01M-2023
Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding Msc ag First semester
AFU, Rampur Chitwan Department of Genetics and Plant breeding
AFU, Rampur Chitwan Nepal
 Introduction
Breeding is the art and science of improving heredity of crop to
produce new variety which is better than existing one and benefit for
human mankind.
A trait that defines some aspect of produce quality then it is called
quality traits. Breeding is only one method for improving quality of
oil.
•Traditionally, the concept of oil quality has been almost exclusively
associated with the fatty acid composition of the oil.
• Recently, however, this concept has evolved and oil chemists and
nutritionists are emphasizing other components of vegetable oils that
influence their physical and chemical properties.
•Similarly, the way in which plant breeders afford the genetic
modification of quality parameters of seed oils has been changing in
recent years, mainly due to the availability of new powerful tools for
the identification and manipulation of genes
The Importance of Oil Quality

•Oil quality is a crucial factor in ensuring a healthy and sustainable

future.
•The type of oil we consume affects not only our health but also the
environment.
•For instance, consuming oils high in saturated fats has been linked
to an increased risk of heart disease, while oils containing trans fats
have been linked to various health problems such as cancer and
diabetes.
• On the other hand, oils that are rich in unsaturated fats such as
olive oil have been shown to have numerous health benefits.

•Apart from its impact on health, oil quality also affects the
environment. Poor quality oils can contribute to air pollution and
soil contamination, which can harm both plant and animal life.
Breeding for Oil Quality

•Breeding for oil quality involves selecting plants with desirable

traits and using them as parents to produce offspring with even
better traits.
• This process can take several years and involves careful evaluation
of each generation to ensure that the desired traits are being passed
down.
•There are several techniques used in breeding for oil quality,
including traditional breeding methods such as cross-pollination and
mass selection as well as newer technologies such as genetic
engineering and backcrossing .
•Each technique has its own advantages and disadvantages, and
breeders must carefully consider which method is best suited for
their particular crop and goals.
Quality Improvement of some Oilseed crop

Erucic Acid in Rapeseed and Mustards :

• Erucic acid is the main seed oil fatty acid in the genus Brassica (rapeseed and
mustards) as well as in many other genera of the Brassicaceae (Velasco, Goffman,
and Becker, 1998).
•This fatty acid has been shown to be cardiotoxic in animals and therefore also
potentially toxic in humans (Beare-Rogers and Nera, 1972).
•Simultaneously, erucic acid is a very valuable feedstock for the oleochemical
industry (Lühs and Friedt, 1994).
•Therefore efforts have been made to eliminate erucic acid from Brassica seed oils
for human consumption as well as to develop lines with a maximum erucic acid
content for industrial applications.
•several breeding strategies such as interspecific crossing (Lühs and Friedt, 1995),
mutagenesis (Velasco, Fernández-Martínez and De Haro, 1998), and genetic
engineering (Lassner et al., 1995) have been attempted to develop these lines.
Linolenic Acid in Linseed

•Linseed (L. usitatissimum) is one of the species with a high concentration of

linolenic acid in its seed oil.
•Linolenic acid is an essential fatty acid that possesses many beneficial healthy
effects although, due to its susceptibility to autoxidation, an oil rich in linolenic
acid is in practice undesirable for human consumption.
•Its main utility is for non-food applications, especially in the industry of paints,
varnishes, inks and coatings (Green and Marshal, 1981).
•Therefore selection has been focused on lowering linolenic acid content in order
to open up food applications to linseed oil, and on increasing linolenic acid
content to promote its industrial applications

Saturated Fatty Acids : A sunflower oil rich in saturated fatty acids is desirable for
the industry of margarines and related products, because its semi-solid consistency
makes it unnecessary detrimental physical transformations such as hydrogenation or
transterification (Álvarez-Ortega et al., 1997). These processes produce trans and
positional isomers related to heart disease (Willett and Ascherio, 1994). This
breeding objectives have been tackled by using mutagenesis
Breeding Approaches
The demand for the oils with specialized fatty acid composition can be met either by
finding new plant species or by modifying the existing oil seed crop as per need. The
various breeding approaches are given below :

1) Domestication : sometimes the need for special type of the fatty acid may not
be satisfied by the existing oilseed crop . In such cases, search for new plant
species rhat fulfill the need may often the rewarding. eg domestication of
jatropha that yields oil suitable for biodisel production.

2) Selection : In many instances, lines with desire fatty acid composition have
been selected from the existing material.eg. selection of Zero erucic acid lines
of B.compestris and B. napus.

3) Mutation : In some cases, Genetic diversity for fatty acid composition may
not be present in the available germplasm of the crop. in such cases genetic
variation is required. E.g a mutant of having low linoleic acid (3.6%) have
been isolated.

4) Hybridization : Selected lines with desirable fatty acid composition are used
in hybridization programme to develop agronomically superior variety.
Other breeding techniques that can be adopted for improving oil
quality are :
• Somatic Hybridization
•Genetic engineering
•Interspecific Hybrodization

Biotechnological Approaches
•Micropropagation
• Somaclonal variation
• Anther Culture
Challenges in Breeding for Oil Quality

Breeding for oil quality is a complex process that involves identifying

the genes responsible for oil quality and selectively breeding plants
with desirable traits.However, this process is not without its
challenges.
•Identifying the specific genes responsible for oil quality: This is
because oil quality is influenced by multiple genes, making it difficult
to isolate the specific genes responsible for certain traits.

•Long breeding cycle: It can take several years to develop a new

variety of plant with improved oil quality, which can be a significant
investment of time and resources.

•Additionally, there is no guarantee that the new variety will have the
desired traits, as other factors such as environment
Future of Breeding for Oil Quality

•As we look towards the future of breeding for oil quality, it's
clear that new technologies will play a crucial role in speeding
up the process and achieving our goals.

• One such technology is CRISPR, which allows for precise

gene editing and has already been used successfully in crops
such as soybeans.

•By using CRISPR to target specific genes responsible for oil

quality, breeders can achieve results much faster than
traditional methods. This not only saves time and resources, but
also allows for more precise control over the breeding process
and ultimately leads to better outcomes for both farmers and
consumers.