Seed Oil Quality of Perilla frutescens (L.) Britt. Genotypes

Perilla frutescens accessions collected from North East Hill Region of India were analyzed for their seed oil, fatty acids and seed protein contents. The seed size of the accessions was diverse, and hundred seed weight averaged 0.130 g with a range of 0.230g to 0.052g. The accessions IC419706 and IC419477 were identified for possessing more than 50% oil in the seed. Ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acid ranged from 0.52 to 0.21. Accessions IC374494, IC369352, IC369349, IC006440, IC521292 and IC374609 were having high linolenic acid content (>63%) in the oil. Four other collections, IC334313, IC521287, IC374543 and IC335402 showed more than 23% linoleic acid against average value of 19.70%. The saturated fatty acid concentration of oils varied within a narrow range of 8–11% of the oil with palmitic acid contribution of about 75%. IC374543 and IC419475 had more than 9% palmitic acid. Significant positive relationship was observed between seed size and oil content of the seed.