Fatty acid composition and simple correlation coefficients for some flax mutants induced by gamma rays

Oil quality analyses of six flax genotypes (i.e., four mutants induced by gamma rays and two local cultivars) revealed that palmitic acid ranged from 5.8% to 7.0%, stearic acid from 2.97% to 5.67%, oleic acid from 16.7% to 26.13%, linoleic acid from 12.63% to 21.6% and linolenic acid from 48% to 61.23%. Thus, linolenic acid represented about 50% or more of the total fatty acids in flax oil. Some of the mutants (No. 15, 25) had high linolenic acid but low oleic acid and mutant No. 6 had a higher linoleic acid and lower stearic acid than the parental cultivar. The correlation coefficient between oil content and palmitic acid was positive and highly significant. Stearic acid was positively associated with oleic content, but it had inverse correlation with the concentration of linoleic acid. Linolenic acid was negatively correlated with oleic acid and linoleic acid. Concerning the relation among oil yield and related characters, oil yield/plant was strongly associated with number of capsules/plant, except for the mutant No. 5 (early type). Positive and highly significant correlation was found between seed yield/plant and either of oil yield/plant or number of capsules/plant for the all genotypes. Oil content seeds was positively correlated with oil yield/plant and seed yield/plant of mutant No. 15 (fiber type). Mutant No. 6 (Oil type) showed a positive correlation between oil content and number of capsules/plant. 3 tabs