Determination of oil content and fatty acid compositions in some sesame (Sesamum indicum L.) mutants

ABSTRACT DETERMINATION OF OIL CONTENT AND FATTY ACID COMPOSITIONS IN SOME SESAME (Sesamum Indicum L.) MUTANTS Çiğdem ARSLAN M.S. Thesis in Department of Field Crops Adviser: Assist. Prof. Dr. Bülent UZUN May 2005, 45 Pages This study was carried out to determine oil content and fatty acid compositions of the mutants (closed capsule, determinate growth habit and tolerance to wilting) which are useful under intensive management conditions of sesame. A total of twenty five different mutants with 4 controls were grown in a randomised complete blocks design with 3 replications in the growing period of 2004. The obtained seeds were subjected to oil extraction using soxholet apparatus and subsequent fatty acid composition was determined by gas chromatography. Besides quality characters such as oil content, oleic acid, linoleic acid, palmitic acid, stearic acid, and arachidic acid, some agronomic traits, seed yield, number of capsules per plant, number of seeds per capsule, stem height to the first capsule, plant height, number of fruiting branch and 1000-seed weight were also evaluated in the study. cc3, ccl and dt45-6157 were found in terms of oil content, oleic acid, and linoleic acid, respectively. The mutants were generally behind of the control genotypes for oil content while they showed very close means to the controls for fatty acid compositions. As a result, if the mutants will be improved for both oil content and some agronomic traits like seed yield, then they are suitable for evaluating in intensive farming conditions for fatty acid compositions. KEY WORDS: Sesame, Sesamum indicum L., Oil Content, Fatty Acids, Gas Chromotography COMMITTEE: Assist. Prof. Dr. Bülent UZUN Assoc. Prof. Dr. Cengiz TOKER Assoc. Prof. Dr. Salih ÜLGER u