THE EFFECT OF PLANTING DATE AND CLIMATIC CONDITION ON OIL CONTENT AND FATTY ACID COMPOSITION IN SOME ROMANIAN SUNFLOWER HYBRIDS

Abstract

Grain oil content and fatty acid composition are very important traits in sunflower. A research was carried on in 2014 and 2016 to determine planting date and climatic conditions effects on oil content and fatty acid composition, using three sunflower hybrids (F 708, F 911, FD 15 C 44). Samples of seeds were harvested at maturity and provided from experimental field conducted in two years at NARDI Fundulea, Romania. The oil content and fatty acid composition of sunflower seeds were determined and analyzed using a Soxhlet apparatus and gas chromatography according to the conventional method. The results of experiment and analyses described in this paper showed that the planting date interact with climatic conditions and affect both the quantity and the quality of the seeds yield. Climatic conditions was the main source of variance for the yield. The oil content in sunflower seeds was very significantly affected by year, planting date and hybrids, as well as by most interactions between these factors. The early planting date in both years led to an increase of grain oil content in all studied sunflower hybrids. The results showed that there was a significant negative effect of 2014 conditions (low rainfall during seed maturation) on the oleic acid concentration in all studied sunflower hybrids. The delay in planting decreased the concentration of oleic acid and increased linoleic acid concentration in all sunflower hybrids, except hybrid F 708, which is more stable in this regard. It is concluded that rainfall, genotype and planting date influenced yield and fatty acid composition from seeds.