The ripe fruits of Citrullus colocynthis (L.) Schrad was collected in 12 different localities in Morocco to evaluate the variability of seed and oil yields. The measured traits are: seed weight (SW), seed number (SN), the weight of 100 seeds (W 100), seed oil content (OC), seeds yield (SY) and oil yield (OY). The seed oil content is ranging between 17 and 24 % of seed weight. The extrapolated seed yield among the accessions ranged from 156 to 816 Kg ha-1 , with an overall mean of 413 Kg ha-1. The oil yield varied between 35 to 172 Kg ha-1. The oil extracted from the seed revealed high levels of unsaturated fatty acids (74 %) with C 18: 2 (60.06 %) and C 18: 1 (11.14 %). The results of ANOVA (GLM) show significant and very highly significant effects according to the characters measured. Significant variability was observed for seed and oil yields. This variability could be exploited for the selection of accessions with high oil yields.
Citrullus colocynthis has been garnering interest in recent times as a potential biodiesel feed stockcrop due to its high seed oil content and its natural adaptation to drought The variability seed oil content (OC), Oil yield (kg/ha) (OY) and fatty acid composition were investigated for 12 accessions collected in different localities in Morocco. Analysis of the data revealed high variability among the accessions, with seed oil content ranging between 17.1 and 24.3 % of seed weight and Oil yield from 35.3 to 172.7 kg/ha. The predominant fatty acid of the seed oil was linoleic acid, C18:2, ranging from 67.0 to 73.0 % of total fatty acids and the average values of unsaturated fatty acids vary between 75.25 and 81.94 %.The wide range of variations found in this study for the traits measured offers the possibility of genetic improvement to develop cultivars for biodiesel production compatible with sustainable and ecological agriculture.
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