Environmental Effects on Oil Quality of High Oleic-Low Linoleneic (HOLL) and Low Linoleneic (LLIN) Spring Canola.

Recent research has shown that partially hydrogenated fats, which contain trans fatty acids, have adverse effects on human heath when included in diets.  Traditional canola oil requires partial hydrogenation to avoid off-flavors when used for high temperature frying and to increase shelf life.  Rancidity and off-flavors in oil are caused by high linoleneic content, which has led to the development of high oleic - low linoleneic acid (HOLL) and low linoleneic acid (LLIN) canola.  Availability of these cultivars in the Pacific Northwest would be of particular interest to the potato fry industry which requires high volumes of these oils.  However, it must be proven that the oil characteristics are stable over the varying environmental conditions that exist throughout the region.  To examine cultivar x oil quality, four LLIN lines, four HOLL lines, and two standard canola cultivars (‘Westar’ and ‘Profit’) were tested over 2 years in multiple location field trials throughout the Pacific Northwest.  Prior to flowering, racemes were covered with Delnet^® pollination bags to avoid cross pollination.  At harvest, seeds from the covered plant racemes were harvested by hand and used for fatty acid testing.  The remainder of each plot was combine harvested and weighed to determine yield potential.  Cultivar x year, cultivar x site, and cultivar x year x site interactions were found for oleic and linoleneic acid, although these were all small compared to cultivar differences.  HOLL and LLIN breeding lines were identified with high yield combined with stable oil quality.