Variation of oil content and fatty acid composition in selected lines of vernonia (Vernonia galamensisvarietyethiopica)

Vernonia (Vernonia galamensis) is a new industrial crop that could offer a naturally epoxidized oil with great economic value. The oil content and fatty acid composition of 10 selected lines of V. galamensis variety ethiopica were analysed to study the variability among and within lines. Lines showed oil content varying from 24–29% and varying ranges of vernolic acid (7377%), linoleic acid (12–14%), oleic acid (3.5–5.5%), palmitic acid (2.4–2.9%) and stearic acid (2.3–2.8%). Entries collected from southern Ethiopia had higher oil content than those from eastern Ethiopia. Two accessions, Vge-10 with the highest contents of oil (29%) and vernolic acid (77%) and Vge-3 with the highest vernolic acid content (77%) were identified as promising parents for improving the quantity of oil and vernolic acid.