Polyunsaturated fatty acids in flax (Linum usitatissimum L.) genotypes with high and low content of alfa-linolenic acid (2011)

At the present flax seeds are known as functional food. Whole linseed contains 41 % of fat of which 70 % belong to polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) and more than half of fatty acids (FA) belong to alfa-linolenic acid (ALA - C18, n-3 FA) – 50 – 62 % of flax oil or 22 % of whole seed2-5 . The second important essential FA is linoleic acid (LA - C18, n-6 FA). It represents 17 % of all FA6 . The aim of our work was to characterize linseed (Linum usitatissimum L.) genotypes divided to groups with high and low content of (ALA). There were analyzed 33 genotypes of linseed, thereof 21 breeding lines and 12 varieties. Proportional representation of FA was realized by the norm ČSN EN ISO 5508. The oil content was analyzed according to internal methodology of Agritec Ltd., which was based on the norm ČSN EN ISO 659.

Chemické listy. 2011, 105(s6): 1006. ISSN 1213-7103