Development of alternative Lesquerella species in Patagonia (Argentina): potential of Lesquerella angustifolia

PLOSCHUK, E.,; CERDEIRAS, G; WINDAUER, L,; DIERIG, D; RAVETTA, D.A.

Industrial Crops and Products

ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV

Lugar: Amsterdam; Año: 2003 vol. 18 p. 1 - 6

0926-6690

The genus Lesquerella is a promising source of hydroxy fatty acid (HFA). Within this genus, Lesquerella fendleri is agood candidate for domestication in the arid southwestern United States because it has high seed and oil yields, lowseed dormancy, and low fruit dehiscence. Other species of Lesquerella , however, could be developed and expanded forother regions of the world with different climatic and environmental conditions. The objective of this study was to testthe yield and oil content of several Lesquerella species in the Chubut River Valley, Patagonia, Argentina. The area ischaracterized by low temperatures during winter and high temperatures and radiation during summer. Twoexperiments were conducted for two consecutive years. Seed yield and oil content were determined for seven speciesof Lesquerella . In the first year, both fall and spring sowings were measured for all tested species. During the secondyear, Lesquerella angustifolia performance was evaluated together with three different accessions of L. fendleri . Springsowings reduced seed and oil yield about 80% in L. fendleri and L. gordonii (average of the two species, PB/0.05)compared with the fall sowings. These results were presumably caused by the longer daylength period during thesummer at these latitudes compared with other sites. Yield was higher in L. angustifolia than other species and threetimes higher than L. fendleri , which was sown at the same time. The higher yield obtained with L. angustifolia was theresult of the combination of both high seed weight and seed number per plant. When L. angustifolia was compared withL. fendleri germplasm originated from arid environments and with two accessions of the same species collected fromhigh elevations, the better performance of the former was confirmed. These results clearly demonstrate that L.angustifolia performs better than L. fendleri in the irrigated valleys of Patagonia, and also that L. fendleri yields wouldbe low under environments with very cold winters and high latitudes. Thus, fall plantings of L. angustifolia could beconsidered as an alternative source of HFA at this site and other similar high-latitude environments.# 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.Keywords: Lesquerella ; Arid lands; New crops; Oil-seed crops; Sowing date