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A characterization study has been performed of the French regional resources that may be used in Biomass-to-Liquid plants based on gasification in entrained-flow reactor. It is based on about 90 representative samples of wood chips from forestry, Short Rotation Coppice (SRC) and Short Rotation Forestry (SRF) and of agricultural biomass, including straws and energy crops. Results show that there is not much variability in properties inside the different families. The majority of properties do not seem to be problematical for the process. However, some properties may be questionable: (i) wood chips size distribution, with many small particles ( below 2 mm) and very large particles (above 70 mm), (ii) bulk density, which is very low in agricultural products (about 100 kg.m-3), (iii) sulphur, fluorine and chlorine contents, which are high, especially chlorine in agricultural straws (1000-8000 mg/kg) (iv) other impurities amounts, such as Ni and B, which are in relatively high amounts in some samples (v) ash content, which is high in SRC/SRF (3 wmf%) and very high in most agricultural raw materials (5 wmf%). Based on these statements, first conclusions on the suitability between feedstock and process may be drawn. Wood chips from forestry appear as the most suitable resource for the process and should be the first resource to be used in industrial plants. SRC/SRF also seem quite suitable for the process and may be seen as a short-term alternative. Agricultural raw materials seem to be more problematical and may be seen as a mid-term option.

Soybean is cultivated in Europe as a GM free cultivation. In spite of a growing demand in identity preserved (IP) seeds and of the high environmental benefit of the soybean in the crop rotations, a great decrease of the soybean acreage has been observed in France and in Europe since 2002. That's why in 2007, Cetiom and Onidol, two bodies of the French oilseed crop organisation decided to carry out a comprehensive survey on the different actors of the soybean production chain from the farmers until the feed and food soybean users. The study showed that 12% of the total acreage is planted under organic farming and that most surfaces are still grown under IP process. It also highlighted that the decrease of soybean's surfaces till 2008 was mainly due to an insufficient economic competitiveness compared to other crops. The survey proved that the French production gained market shares between 2002 and 2007 for the soyfood industry supply (from 5 to 25% of the total acreage). The remaining production is processed in small or medium extrusion plants for the local animal raising. The needs of the industry were described in details showing that the main asset of the French production is the good control of the whole production chain, the high quality management by the farmers, the good protein content and shorter logistic chains compared to the imported soybean. For the future, the increasing environmental constraints and the larger demand of European soyfood industry but also of local high-quality feed and animal raising could lead soybean to recover between 100 000 and 150 000 hectares in France.

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The objective of this work was to develop a near-infrared reflectance spectrometry (NIRS) calibration estimating the tocopherol and phytosterol contents in sunflower seeds. Approximately 1000 samples of grinded sunflower kernels were scanned by NIRS at 2-nm intervals from 400 to 2500 nm. For each sample, standard measurements of tocopherol and phytosterol contents were performed. The total tocopherol content was obtained by high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with a fluorescence detector, while the total phytosterol content was assessed by gas chromatography. For tocopherol, the calibration data set ranged from 175 to 1005 mg/kg oil (mean value around 510 6 140 mg/kg oil), whereas for the phytosterol content, the calibration data set ranged from 180 to 470 mg/100 g oil (mean value of 320 6 50 mg/ 100 g oil). The NIRS calibration showed a relatively good correlation (R 2 = 0.64) between predicted by NIRS and real values for the total tocopherol content but a poor correlation for the total phytosterol content (R 2 = 0.27). These results indicate that NIRS could be useful to classify samples with high and low tocopherol content. In contrast, the estimation of phytosterol contents by NIRS needs further investigation. Moreover, in this study, calibration was obtained by a modified partial least-squares method; the use of other mathematical treatments can be suitable, particularly for total phytosterol content estimation.

Oilseeds & fats Crops and Lipids OCLAbstract -Very early sowing: an agronomic strategy to improve soybean performance in France ? This study was carried out on very early sowing of soybean in order to improve potential yield and/or reduce water requirements. Three varieties belonging to different maturity groups were selected to identify varietal traits of interest in very early sowing. A set of multi-location irrigated trials consisting in two sowing dates was performed from 2010 to 2014. Yield and water requirements were determined; crop development and growth was monitored on cv. Santana. The combined effects of low temperatures and photoperiod in very early sowing resulted in limited aboveground biomass production during vegetative period and increased grain filling duration. Maximal values for yield were observed in very early sowing modality, although yield was slightly lower in very early sowing compared to conventional one (3.7 t/ha vs. 3.9 t/ha).

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