Breeding low palmitic low linolenic soybeans

Commercial soybean oil currently does not meet the demands of health conscious consumers because it includes 10-12% palmitic acid, a saturated fatty acid and forms trans fatty acids upon hydrogenation. Linolenic acid has less oxidative stability and is responsible for the development of undesirable flavors. Therefore, a cross was made between N97-3708-13, a low palmitic, low linolenic line and Anand, a high yielding cultivar. The goal of the cross was to produce a population between a normal soybean cultivar and a low palmitic, low linolenic fatty acid soybean line. Moreover, to estimate heritabilities of fatty acid traits and to correlate fatty acid and agronomic traits in order to guide breeders who wish to improve soybean oil for human consumption. From the progeny, two-hundred F₂ single plants were grown in a honeycomb design during the first year (1999) and in the second year (2000) F_2:4 two row plots were grown in a randomized block design with three replications of 128 genotypes. In addition, a population of F₄ single plants were grown in F_2:4 rows. Fatty acid composition was determined by gas chromatography. Some high yielding progeny were developed, with the highest ranking at 4116.5 kg ha ^-1 Some modified fatty acid lines were developed including the lowest at 4.2% and 4.3% of palmitic and linolenic respectively. Smaller seed size was correlated with lower palmitic acid. Palmitic acid and linolenic acid had high heritabilities of 0.65 and 0.73 respectively. Breeders utilizing low palmitic, low linolenic germplasm in crosses with normal elite lines can select F₂ individuals with the lowest levels of these traits with expectation of recovering pure line progenies that retain these modified fatty acid traits.