Oil contents and fatty acid composition of walnut genotypes selected from central anatolia region and assessments through gt biplot analysis

© 2021 Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.Walnuts with quite rich nutrient contents and several benefits on human health are among the significant nut fruits. Turkey is among the gene centers of walnut and thus has diverse walnut populations throughout the country. Therefore, it is highly significant to assess this rich source and to identify superior genotypes. Walnuts are rich in oil content and have several positive impacts on human health. In this study, 50 walnut genotypes having superior characteristics were selected from Kayseri province in Central Anatolia region of Turkey. Total oil (crude oil) and fatty acid composition of these genotypes were determined. The recorded data were subjected to variance analysis and assessed through a biplot method. Crude oil contents of walnut genotypes varied in the range of 61.22-74.00% and linoleic acid (32.52-65.47%) was identified as the major fatty acid. Unsaturated fatty acid contents of walnut genotypes varied between 88.20 and 96.16%. Genotype Trait (GT) biplot graph showed that the sum of the first two principal components explained about 59.5% of total variation. While the genotypes KW24, KW10, KW41, KW2, KW6, KW17, KW31 and KW25 were found to be prominent with their crude oil contents, the genotypes KW32 and KW34 were found to be prominent with unsaturated fatty acids. Present findings revealed that the GT biplot method could efficiently be used in selection of walnut genotypes prominent with their crude oil contents and fatty acid composition. It was also concluded that walnuts rich in unsaturated fatty acids could be used as functional food and the present superior genotypes could be used as parent materials in further walnut breeding studies