EVALUATION OF GRAIN AND OIL YIELDS OF DIFFERENT OIL CROPS GROWN IN SUB-OPTIMAL CONDITIONS OF MEDITERRANEAN ENVIRONMENT

Many research activities are in progress both in the EU and in the US to support and demonstrate the use of vegetable oils and their derivatives as diesel fuel. While research and development of biodiesel in the US has tended to concentrate on soybean-oil (soybean is by far the most widely cultivated oilseed crop in the US), oil from rapeseed (Brassica napus), which is the most common European oilseed crop, has become the dominate feedstock for biodiesel in Europe. Other species has recently become object of interest for their better adaptability to sub-optimal growing conditions respect to B. napus and for the oil yield and fatty acid composition. This work aims to evaluate the influence of genotype on the production of seed of different oil crops grown in south Sicily, an area characterized by the typical condition of Mediterranean environment. The trial was conducted in 2011 at the ISAFOM Catania experimental field. Four genotypes of Camelina sativa, Brassica carinata, Linum usitatissimum and two genotypes of Brassica napus and Carthamus tinctorius were studied. In the field during the crop cycle biological phases (plant emergence, flowering, physiological ripening and agronomic ripening) were detected. At harvest the grain yield and oil amount of the grain were recorded. Results showed the B. carinata gave the highest yields (18 q ha-1) followed by B. napus (14 q ha-1). All the genotypes of C. sativa resulted the less productive, while the oil amounts, expressed on g kg-1 d.m. resulted next to values 400, vs 200 recorded respectively in C. tinctorius and B. napus.