Oil and Fatty Acids in Seed of Eggplant (Solanum melongena L.) and Some Related and Unrelated Solanum Species

The seed oil content of 305 genebank accessions of eggplant (Solanum melongena), five related species (S. aethiopicum L., S. incanum L., S. anguivi Lam., S. linnaeanum Hepper and P.M.L. Jaeger and S. macrocarpon L.) and 27 additional Solanums pecies, was determined by NMR. Eggplant (S. melongena) seed oil content varied from 17.2% (PI 63911317471) to 28.0% (GRIF 13962) with a mean of 23.7% (std. dev = 2.1) across the 305 samples. Seed oil content in other Solanum species varied from 11.8% (S. capsicoides-PI 370043) to 44.9% (S. aviculare-PI 420414). Fatty acids were also determined by HPLC in genebank accessions of S. melongena (55), S. aethiopicum (10), S. anguivi (4), S. incanum (4) and S. macrocarpon (2). In all samples examined, the predominant fatty acid was linoleic acid (18:2) followed by oleic acid (18:1) and palmitic acid (16:0). Levels of linoleic acid ranged from 57% (S. aethiopicum-PI 194166) to 74.5% (S. anguivi-PI 183357). Oleic and palmitic acid levels ranged from 11.3% (S. anguivi-PI 183357) to 25.2% (S. aethiopicum-PI 194166) and 8.4% (S. melongena-PI 115507) to 11.2% (S. melongena-PI 600912), respectively. Oil extracted from seed of S. melongena cv. Black Beauty had a pour point of -12°C, viscosities of 28.8 (40°C) and 7.3 (100°C), a viscosity index of 240, an oxidation onset temperature of 160°C and a Gardner Color of 6+.