Industrial Crops and Products 26 (2007) 270–277

Agronomic evaluation of camelina genotypes selected for seed

quality characteristics
Johann Vollmann a,∗ , Thomas Moritz a , Christine Kargl a ,
Sabine Baumgartner b , Helmut Wagentristl a
a Department of Applied Plant Sciences and Plant Biotechnology, BOKU-University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences Vienna,
Gregor Mendel Str. 33, A-1180 Vienna, Austria
b Department for Agrobiotechnology, IFA Tulln, BOKU-University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences Vienna,

Konrad Lorenz Str. 20, A-3430 Tulln, Austria

Received 27 July 2005; accepted 26 March 2007

Abstract
Camelina is an under-utilised Brassicaceae oilseed crop with promising food and non-food applications due to an unusual fatty
acid composition of its seed oil. Therefore, high oil content and other seed quality characteristics are important to enhance the
attractiveness of the camelina crop both for growers and processors. As information about genetic improvement of camelina seed
quality features is very limited, advanced breeding lines previously selected for large 1000-seed weight, increased oil content or
particular fatty acid concentration were evaluated for agronomic performance in different environments in the east of Austria. Grain
yields of up to 2800 kg ha−1 and seed oil contents of up to 480 g kg−1 were found in particular entries. However, large-seeded
camelina genotypes with 1000-seed weight of up to 1.81 g were inferior to small seeded genotypes in terms of yield performance
and oil content due to the presence of negative correlations; therefore, large-seeded genotypes appear to be of limited agronomic
value only. Moreover, significant genetic variation between genotypes was found in linolenic and erucic acid concentrations, which
are also subject to considerable modification by environmental conditions; linolenic acid was in the broad range from 25 to 42% of
total fatty acids, whereas erucic acid concentration was low ranging from 2 to 6%. The results suggest that variation in agronomic
and seed quality characters of camelina would clearly allow for an improvement of grain yield and oil content, whereas progress
towards increased seed weight would be slow.
© 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Camelina sativa; False flax; Grain yield; 1000-seed weight; Oil content; Fatty acid concentration; Environmental variation

1. Introduction sicaceae with agronomic low-input features (Putnam et

Camelina (false flax, gold-of-pleasure, Camelina
sativa [L.] Crtz.) is an oilseed crop of the family Bras-
∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +43 1 47654 3309;
fax: +43 1 47654 3342.
E-mail address: johann.vollmann@boku.ac.at (J. Vollmann).
al., 1993) and an unusual fatty acid pattern, made up by
higher levels of alpha-linolenic acid and comparatively
low concentrations of erucic acid (Zubr and Matthäus,
2002). Thus, camelina oil is considered as an inter-
esting source of omega-3 fatty acids with cholesterol
lowering properties in the human diet (Karvonen et al.,
2002), but has also a range of possible industrial applica-
tions from environmentally safe paintings, coatings and

0926-6690/$ – see front matter © 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.indcrop.2007.03.017
 J. Vollmann et al. / Industrial Crops and Products 26 (2007) 270–277
cosmetics to low emission biodiesel fuels (Bonjean
and Le Goffic, 1998; Bernardo et al., 2003). Although
camelina oil is susceptible to lipid oxidation due to the
presence of polyunsaturated fatty acids, it appears to be
sufficiently stable during storage (Ni Eidhin et al., 2003;
Abramovič and Abram, 2005).
Camelina breeding has not been carried out inten-
sively in the past, and the availability of germplasm is
limited. Agronomic performance of camelina as com-
pared to other spring-sown oilseed crops has been
considered as acceptable (Marquard and Kuhlmann,
1986; Seehuber, 1984; Vollmann et al., 1996; Zubr,
1997). Camelina seed oil content has been reported
between 320 and 460 g kg−1 (Vollmann et al., 2005) and
levels of linolenic acid concentration were in the broad
range from 28 to 43% of total fatty acids (Seehuber,
1984; Budin et al., 1995; Zubr and Matthäus, 2002).
Selection for particular seed quality characteristics has
been practiced only rarely (Büchsenschütz-Nothdurft et
al., 1998), and the wide range in seed quality parameters
reported previously is not attributable to genetic differ-
ences between the camelina genotypes alone, but may to
a large extent be due to differing environmental condi-
tions as well, thus, making particular results not easily
comparable.
Camelina seed quality features are important char-
acteristics for marketing and processing of the crop
in competition to other oilseeds. Therefore, activities
within a camelina breeding project have partly been
devoted to selecting for 1000-seed weight, oil content
or modified concentrations of particular fatty acids. In
the present investigation, these breeding lines previously
selected for increased 1000-seed weight, high oil content
or unusual linolenic or erucic acid concentrations were
evaluated in field experiments across different environ-
ments in the east of Austria. Agronomic characters as
well as seed quality parameters were monitored for the
different sets of genotypes in order to determine envi-
ronmental and genetic influences and to verify response
to selection.
2. Materials and methods
2.1. Field experiments
Two types of field experiments were carried out at
Gross Enzersdorf or Raasdorf (Lower Austria, 10 km
east of Vienna) over different seasons, i.e. agronomic
performance trials and genotype screening experiments:
in agronomic performance trials, advanced camelina
breeding lines were sown in plots of 5 m × 1.25 m size
in three different year/location combinations (macro-
271
environments), i.e. Gross Enzersdorf in 1997 and 1998,
and Raasdorf in 1999. In 1997 and 1998, 30 geno-
types (see Table 1 for a list of entries) were grown in
a 6 × 5 generalised lattice design (i.e. six incomplete
blocks of five plots per block) in two replications. Due
to the progress of the breeding program, 30 additional
genotypes from the same genotypic populations were
included in the performance trial in 1999, and a total of
60 genotypes were grown in a 10 × 6 generalised lattice
design in two replications. In genotype screening exper-
iments devoted to selection for seed quality characters,
between 150 and 400 genotypes were grown each season
in single row plots of 2 m × 0.25 m size at Gross Enz-
ersdorf in 1997, 1998 and 2002, and at Raasdorf in 1999
and 2001. Depending on the number of entries for each
single experiment, different generalised lattices with two
replications were used as the experimental field design.
Both the agronomic performance trials and the geno-
type screening experiments were sown at a constant
sowing rate of 300 seeds m−2 during the last week of
March or the first week of April in each year. Prior
to sowing, a nitrogen fertiliser was applied at a rate of
approximately 60 kg ha−1 N. Depending on plant devel-
opment, experiments were harvested at full maturity
between July 15 and 31 in each season.
2.2. Genotypes evaluated
In agronomic performance trials, a set of 30 (60
in 1999) camelina genotypes was evaluated across
three environments. All genotypes are representative of
advanced breeding lines in F6 or later generations from
three genetically different groups, i.e. (i) lines derived
from crosses between average and large seed weight par-
ents, which had been selected for large seed weight and at
least above average oil content in preceding generations,
(ii) lines from crosses between average seed weight par-
ents selected for high oil content and (iii) check cultivars
(cvs. Calena, Lindo and internal check line CA13X-17).
In genotype screening experiments, more lines from
the two groups of crosses mentioned above as well as
induced mutant lines previously selected for aberrations
in their fatty acid profile (Vollmann et al., 1997) were
subjected to analysis of seed quality characters.
2.3. Data collection and analytical methods
Flowering time (expressed as the number of days
from April 30 to full bloom) and plant height were
measured in the field (one reading per plot). From
each plot, a 15 g sample of dry seeds was used for
determination of oil and protein content; both con-
 272
Table 1
Agronomic performance and seed quality characteristics in a set of 30 camelina genotypes (means across three macro-environments)
Genotype name Flowering Plant height Oil content Protein content 1000-seed Grain yield Oil yield Individual fatty acid
timea (cm) (g kg−1 ) (g kg−1 ) weight (g) (kg ha−1 ) (kg ha−1 ) concentration (%)
C 16:0 C 18:0 C 18:1 C 18:2 C 18:3 C 20:1 C 22:1

Lines derived from large × small seed crosses

CG1X-1 23.1 72.8 424.4 277.4 1.47 1817 765 6.31 2.65 15.87 19.47 31.94 15.27 3.06
CG1X-11 24.4 74.4 439.7 268.4 1.45 1859 815 6.12 2.61 16.49 17.38 33.17 15.62 3.03
CG1X-13 23.7 74.6 410.9 293.5 1.81 1596 650 6.45 2.66 15.69 17.00 35.32 14.62 2.72
CG1X-22 23.5 76.0 426.4 271.0 1.58 1805 765 6.58 2.72 16.01 18.06 33.99 14.72 2.62

J. Vollmann et al. / Industrial Crops and Products 26 (2007) 270–277

CG1X-26 23.8 72.6 444.2 263.5 1.39 1627 721 6.33 2.85 16.19 18.19 34.02 14.52 2.57
CG1X-36 23.7 73.4 422.2 275.6 1.58 1574 659 6.60 2.63 15.79 17.62 34.52 14.73 2.72
CG2X-13 27.2 73.4 442.4 267.9 1.32 1761 772 6.66 2.88 17.27 18.71 31.85 14.87 2.60
CG2X-16 27.4 71.8 438.8 269.7 1.33 1809 788 6.12 2.67 15.16 18.08 33.10 15.88 3.26
CG2X-23 24.7 76.7 437.9 267.8 1.33 1810 787 6.36 2.60 16.45 18.27 33.69 14.80 2.66
CG2X-24 22.7 71.4 421.0 286.2 1.58 1640 689 5.84 2.59 14.52 17.74 35.11 15.06 3.18
CG3X-16 24.9 71.9 436.2 263.7 1.38 1732 754 6.97 2.71 16.75 19.64 30.46 15.13 3.01
CG3X-20 22.6 67.7 405.0 293.4 1.64 1605 645 5.90 2.49 16.32 15.46 34.00 16.60 3.82
CG3X-29 27.5 72.1 413.1 273.8 1.49 1876 769 6.34 2.78 18.26 15.81 32.93 15.95 3.11
CG3X-40 25.8 76.0 444.6 265.5 1.27 2082 917 6.30 2.73 17.38 18.59 31.73 15.02 2.95
CG3X-88 25.2 73.8 443.1 265.5 1.41 1946 857 6.28 2.71 17.48 18.42 32.26 14.71 2.86
CG3X-92 24.8 70.4 421.3 279.4 1.63 1714 718 6.11 2.29 16.51 16.94 34.60 14.99 3.23
CG4X-50 23.4 70.9 406.4 289.8 1.78 1589 641 6.40 2.59 15.67 17.37 35.42 14.39 2.76
CG4X-68 26.4 73.8 424.0 268.9 1.47 1866 787 6.11 2.54 14.61 16.61 33.45 16.35 4.03
CG4X-80 24.2 73.1 424.5 266.8 1.43 1862 788 6.77 2.71 16.14 18.41 32.97 14.76 2.86
Lines derived from selection for high oil content
CA13X-13 30.3 62.8 459.0 250.2 1.12 1854 851 6.22 2.88 16.54 20.42 29.20 15.63 3.29
CA9X-21 28.8 64.9 460.0 262.7 1.05 1990 916 6.24 2.78 16.68 17.67 31.73 15.98 3.41
CA13X-1S-15 24.9 63.3 462.3 253.2 1.08 1927 888 6.01 3.14 18.67 16.63 30.13 16.97 3.30
CA13X-2S-18 28.1 66.1 450.4 250.2 1.17 2095 938 5.76 2.62 17.44 16.09 31.51 17.60 3.70
CA13X-2S-24 26.2 66.8 455.3 258.7 1.18 2084 943 5.22 2.59 17.93 14.69 32.99 17.45 3.70
CA13X-2S-83 28.8 70.6 451.5 259.1 1.08 2070 930 6.30 2.97 15.14 19.05 30.98 16.06 3.61
CA4X-4 26.8 63.3 466.9 242.0 0.96 1760 821 6.84 3.18 18.45 19.74 29.95 14.45 2.36
CA13X-1S-5 25.3 67.9 444.5 259.6 1.21 2115 935 6.01 2.78 16.06 17.17 32.32 16.51 3.48
Check cultivars
CA13X-17 29.0 66.6 451.3 247.8 1.13 2038 914 6.42 2.76 17.44 16.63 30.61 17.11 3.76
Calena 29.2 75.1 439.0 255.7 1.09 2248 983 6.45 2.75 14.48 16.74 32.41 16.91 4.01
Lindo 28.7 64.5 447.3 257.5 1.14 1777 793 6.76 2.96 17.64 19.40 30.09 15.23 2.91
Total mean 25.8 70.6 437.1 266.8 1.35 1851 807 6.29 2.73 16.50 17.73 32.55 15.60 3.15
LSD (0.05) 2.3 6.7 8.6 7.5 0.14 199 90 0.21 0.12 0.64 0.50 1.46 0.42 0.18
a Flowering time in days after April 30.
 J. Vollmann et al. / Industrial Crops and Products 26 (2007) 270–277 273

stituents were determined non-destructively by Fourier

transform near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy (FT-
NIRS) using a Bruker MATRIX-I spectrophotometer
and OPUS spectroscopic data analysis software (Bruker,
Ettlingen, Germany). Grain yield and 1000-seed weight
were expressed at an 80 mg g−1 seed moisture basis,
whereas oil and protein content were given at a dry
matter basis. Fatty acid composition was determined
by gas chromatography with flame ionisation detection
(GC/FID) using 0.3 g seed samples. Fatty acid methyl
esters were separated on a 30 m × 0.32 mm i.d. column
(HP-Innowax, film thickness 0.5 ␮m, phase ratio: 150,
initial temperature 160 ◦ C, running time 17 min.) and the
Fig. 1. Variation of grain yield in a set of 60 camelina genotypes from
concentrations of individual fatty acids were expressed three different genetic groups grown at Raasdorf in 1999.
as percentage of total fatty acid content.
relation was observed between grain yield and 1000-seed
2.4. Statistical analysis weight (r = −0.69** , n = 30), whereas the correlation
between grain yield and oil content is positive (r = 0.57** ,
Single experiments were first analysed individually n = 30); as a consequence, the yield level of the lines
using the appropriate lattice design ANOVA model derived from large × small seeded parents is clearly
and PLABSTAT (Utz, 1996) software. Lattice-adjusted lower than that of the high oil and check groups, as shown
individual plot values were calculated and used in all in the 1999 experiment as an example (Fig. 1). 1000-seed
subsequent statistical analyses. Orthogonal subsets of weight of check cultivars and lines selected for high oil
genotypes were used for genotype mean estimation and content was between 0.96 and 1.21 g, whereas it reached
for analyses of variance across environments, in which a maximum of 1.81 g in lines derived from large × small
replications, environments as well as genotypes were seeded parents (Table 1). Apart from the negative effect
considered random factors. of an increased 1000-seed weight on grain yield, oil
content was similarly reduced in lines exhibiting an
3. Results extremely large seed weight (Table 1). The negative
correlation between 1000-seed weight and oil content
3.1. Agronomic performance trials (r = −0.92** , n = 30) is depicted in Fig. 2 for the three
different groups of genotypes, which are clearly sepa-
The influence of environments and genotypes on rated in the scatter plot. Subsequently, grain yield and
agronomic performance and seed quality of camelina oil content were used to calculate the oil yield potential
was highly significant for each of the characters inves- of various camelina genotypes: oil yields ranging from
tigated (ANOVA; details not shown). The effect of 641 to 983 kg ha−1 were recorded on a genotype mean
environments was predominant for most characters,
whereas genotype by environment interaction was not
significant for fatty acid concentrations; for characters
such as flowering time, plant height, oil and protein
content, and grain yield, genotype by environment inter-
action was statistically significant, but the variance
component attributable to interaction was of much lower
magnitude than that of the respective main effects.
Therefore, genotype by environment interaction was
considered to be not relevant in the present experiment,
and genotype means were calculated across environ-
ments, as presented in Table 1 for the three groups of
genotypes investigated. Grain yields were in the range
between 1574 kg ha−1 (line CG1X-36) and 2248 kg ha−1 Fig. 2. Relationship between 1000-seed weight and oil content in
(cv. Calena) on a mean basis and between 1070 and camelina genotypes selected for high oil content or large seed weight
2850 kg ha−1 on an individual plot basis. A negative cor- (30 genotypes, means across three macro-environments).
274 J. Vollmann et al. / Industrial Crops and Products 26 (2007) 270–277

acid content was in the range of 29–35% (genotype

means across environments), and lines derived from
the large × small seed crosses were clearly higher in
linolenic acid content than other genotypes. An overview
of variation in fatty acid concentrations for the three
macro-environments (Table 2) demonstrates the con-
trasting effect of different growing conditions on oil
quality: linolenic acid content was much higher at
Raasdorf 1999 (29.12–42.52%) than in the other two
environments. Alternatively, concentrations of saturated
and mono-unsaturated fatty acids were significantly
higher at Gross Enzersdorf in 1997 and 1998 than at
Raasdorf 1999.

3.2. Seed quality screening experiments

Fig. 3. Oil content of selected camelina genotypes in three growing
seasons.
basis (Table 1) and from 480 to 1210 kg ha−1 on an indi-
vidual plot within environment basis. Apart from genetic
influences, seed quality characteristics were consider-
ably modified by environmental conditions. Oil content
was similarly influenced by the effects of the growing
season both for high or low oil content genotypes, as
shown in Fig. 3 for a selected number of genotypes.
Camelina oil is mainly made up by poly- and mono-
unsaturated fatty acids with linolenic (C 18:3), linoleic
(C 18:2), oleic (C 18:1) and eicosenic acid (C 20:1)
being the most important ones (see Table 1). Linolenic
In the seed quality screening experiments for evalu-
ating additional genotypes grown in single row plots,
similar effects of genotypes and environments were
observed for oil content and fatty acid concentration
as described above for the agronomic performance tri-
als. Consequently, linolenic acid content was highest
in 1999, and genetic differences in linolenic acid were
reproducible across different growing seasons between
1997 and 2002 (Fig. 4). In each environment, linolenic
acid content was negatively correlated with time to
flowering and oil content, but positively with 1000-
seed weight, as illustrated in Fig. 5. Erucic acid (C
22:1) content of camelina (Fig. 6) was between 3
and 4.5% in conventional lines (CA9X-21, Calena,

Table 2
Overview of variation in individual fatty acid concentration in three different macro-environments (n = 30 genotypes in 1997 and 1998, n = 60
genotypes in 1999)
Parameter Fatty acid concentration (%)

C 16:0 C 18:0 C 18:1 C 18:2 C 18:3 C 20:0 C 20:1 C 20:2 C 20:3 C 22:0 C 22:1

Gross Enzersdorf 1997

Minimum 5.74 2.47 15.55 15.95 25.25 1.38 14.64 1.71 1.09 0.31 2.31
Maximum 7.64 3.60 20.51 21.36 32.06 2.10 18.30 2.57 1.75 0.47 4.38
Mean 6.79 3.04 18.00 18.66 28.54 1.65 16.18 2.15 1.40 0.37 3.22
CV (%) 5.91 7.14 6.89 6.77 6.14 10.92 6.12 9.06 11.22 9.34 15.13
Gross Enzersdorf 1998
Minimum 5.27 2.35 13.95 14.34 27.15 1.31 14.77 1.72 1.27 0.29 2.44
Maximum 7.51 3.47 19.54 20.21 35.47 1.91 18.23 2.59 1.97 0.49 4.30
Mean 6.59 2.83 16.75 17.57 31.01 1.59 16.08 2.24 1.64 0.38 3.31
CV (%) 6.54 7.89 7.17 7.81 6.27 9.22 6.23 8.18 10.40 9.55 14.49
Raasdorf 1999
Minimum 4.51 1.92 11.89 13.49 29.12 0.99 12.54 1.59 1.07 n.d.a 2.11
Maximum 6.09 2.97 17.08 21.23 42.52 2.04 16.90 2.36 2.04 n.d.a 3.99
Mean 5.54 2.35 14.47 17.12 38.21 1.32 14.45 2.01 1.64 n.d.a 2.90
CV (%) 5.28 7.94 8.31 8.96 6.89 13.25 6.67 7.07 12.73 n.d.a 15.81
a Not determined in 1999.
 J. Vollmann et al. / Industrial Crops and Products 26 (2007) 270–277
Fig. 4. Linolenic acid content in different genotypes of camelina in
three to five growing seasons, respectively.
CMUT-Control). In a mutant line with increased eru-
cic acid content (CMUT-838/1), concentrations in the
range of 4–6.5% were found, whereas low erucic acid
mutants were in the range of 2–3% C 22:1. Contrary
to linolenic acid (see Fig. 4), the mono-unsaturated
erucic acid was lowest under the environmental con-
ditions of 1999 and clearly higher in other growing
seasons for all genotypes investigated (Fig. 6). Similar
to the correlations found in performance trials, erucic
acid content was negatively correlated to C 16- and
C 18-fatty acids, but positively to all C 20-fatty acids
determined.
3.3. Environmental effects on fatty acid composition
The period from the end of flowering until 10 days
before full maturity was considered as the seed fill-
ing period, and average temperature and precipitation
rates during the seed filling period were calculated for
Fig. 5. Relationship between 1000-seed weight and linolenic acid con-
tent in a set of 60 camelina genotypes grown at Raasdorf in 1999.
275
Fig. 6. Erucic acid content in different genotypes of camelina in five
growing seasons (genotypes designated ‘CMUT’ are mutant lines
selected earlier for low (−) or high (+) erucic acid content, respec-
tively).
each of the growing seasons 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001
and 2002, respectively. Temperature and average fatty
acid concentrations in the five environments were pos-
itively correlated for linoleic (C 18:2) and arachidic (C
20:0) acids, and negatively with respect to eicosadienoic
(C 20:2) and eicosatrienoic (C 20:3) acids; correlations
between temperature and all other fatty acid concentra-
tions were not significant. In addition, highly significant
negative correlations were found between the amount of
precipitation during seed filling and palmitic (C 16:0)
as well as stearic (C 18:0) acid contents. Comparatively
low temperatures and high precipitation during the seed
filling period of 1999 may partly explain high levels
of linolenic acid found in that environment (Fig. 4),
although the overall correlation between environmen-
tal parameters and linolenic acid concentration was not
statistically significant.
4. Discussion
A considerable amount of genetic variation is present
in agronomic characters as well as in seed quality traits
of spring-sown camelina genotypes. This suggests that a
further improvement of camelina is within reach, making
the crop more attractive both to growers and processors.
The positive correlation found between grain yield and
oil content is most helpful for selecting desirable geno-
types with oil yields of about 1000 kg ha−1 , which is
clearly higher than in earlier reports dealing with spring-
sown types of camelina (Seehuber, 1984; Zubr, 1997).
Breeding lines selected for large 1000-seed weight,
however, were only of limited agronomic value: The
yield performance of large seed weight lines is clearly
276 J. Vollmann et al. / Industrial Crops and Products 26 (2007) 270–277
reduced as compared to small seed weight lines, which
mainly appears to be due to a reduced number of seeds
per pod. Moreover, breeding lines with a large seed
weight have lower oil content than check cultivars, which
possibly reflects a physiological limitation in terms of
energy availability for oil biosynthesis during the seed
filling process. Thousand-seed weights of up to 1.81 g as
found in the present study have not been reported previ-
ously for camelina: Agegnehu and Honermeier (1997),
Marquard and Kuhlmann (1986), Seehuber (1984), and
Vollmann et al. (2005) reported 1000-seed weights of
up to 1.56 g, whereas the values given by Angelini et al.
(1997) were below 1.0 g.
Selection for increased oil content of seed proved
to be effective, and camelina lines with an oil content
above 460 g kg−1 were identified, which is similar to
the level reported for winter-sown camelina crops (Zubr,
1997) and higher than for spring-sown crops (Agegnehu
and Honermeier, 1997; Budin et al., 1995; Marquard
and Kuhlmann, 1986; Zubr, 2003). The highly negative
correlation between oil content and 1000-seed weight
(Fig. 2) has been reported earlier as well for camelina
lines of similar genetic background (Vollmann et al.,
1996), whereas no significant correlation between the
two characters has been reported in other studies. In
oilseed rape, Engqvist and Becker (1993) described a
moderately positive correlation between oil content and
1000-seed weight, whereas Tang et al. (1997) found a
moderately negative correlation in yellow/brown-seeded
rapeseed populations, but a highly significant negative
correlation between the rapeseed embryo oil content and
1000-seed weight.
Linolenic acid, which is the fatty acid of major
interest in camelina, is present in lower concentra-
tions than in linseed, the main vegetable source of that
fatty acid (Velasco and Fernández-Martı́nez, 2002). For
the genotypes investigated, variation in linolenic acid
concentration was similar to the range described by
Seehuber (1984), whereas Zubr and Matthäus (2002)
and Budin et al. (1995) reported lower degrees of varia-
tion for their respective sets of camelina genotypes and
growing environments. In the present study, linolenic
acid concentration and 1000-seed weight were positively
correlated (Fig. 5), which has not been reported else-
where. In other oilseed crops such as linseed (Rowland
et al., 1995), oilseed rape (Rücker and Röbbelen, 1996;
Rajcan et al., 1997) or soybean (e.g. Walker et al., 1998),
linolenic acid has been the subject of much debate, and
mutation induction has been applied in order to reduce
linolenic acid concentration, as a high level of linolenic
acid gives rise to reduced oxidative stability of veg-
etable oils and also is the main cause of trans fatty
acid formation in hydrogenated oils, which increases
the risk of cardiovascular and other diseases in humans
(Kris-Etherton and Etherton, 2003). In the light of the
discussion outlined, high linolenic camelina oil may
become an important source of linolenic acid both for
industrial applications and food utilisation, as it offers
comparatively high oxidative stability despite its con-
centration of polyunsaturated fatty acids (Abramovič and
Abram, 2005; Ni Eidhin et al., 2003).
While camelina oil is unusually high in linolenic
acid as compared to other Brassicaceae crops, it is
low in erucic acid concentration (Velasco et al., 1998),
which has also been confirmed by the present study.
As there is significant genetic variation present in eru-
cic acid concentration (Fig. 6), this fatty acid may
even be further reduced through targeted selection, if
requested.
Apart from environmental variation in agronomic
characters such as grain yield, the series of experi-
ments presented here also demonstrates considerable
environmental variation in oil content and fatty acid con-
centration of camelina oil, which is not predictable in
advance, but may be of relevance in the case of partic-
ular industrial applications. In oilseed crops, the level
of polyunsaturated fatty acids in general is promoted by
low temperatures during the seed filling period, while at
higher temperatures the concentration of saturated fatty
acids is enhanced (Velasco and Fernández-Martı́nez,
2002). This may partly explain the high concen-
tration of linolenic acid in 1999 (Fig. 4), whereas
erucic acid (Fig. 6) was reduced in the same growing
season.
5. Conclusions
Breeding lines of camelina exhibit useful genetic
variation in agronomic and seed quality characteristics.
This offers the possibility of a further and simultane-
ous improvement of grain yield and seed oil content.
Selection for increased seed size, however, has adverse
effects on grain yield and oil content. Genetic variation
in linolenic and erucic acid concentrations is available,
but environmental effects have a considerable impact on
fatty acid composition.
Acknowledgements
This research has partly been financed by an institu-
tional fund from the Institute of Agronomy and Plant
Breeding of BOKU, Vienna, Austria. The technical
assistance of Mr. Roman Tumpold in field experimen-
tation is acknowledged.
 J. Vollmann et al. / Industrial Crops and Products 26 (2007) 270–277
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