Screening of Cotton Materials with High Content of Seed Oil and Development of Seed Fatty Acid

A total of 61cultivars from two main cotton cultivated species(Gossypium hirsutum L.,and Gossypium barbadense L.) were employed to investigate the content of cottonseed oil.Apparently difference was found between the two species in content of cottonseed oil with average content of 30.42% and 37.25% in upland cotton and sea-island cotton,respectively.The cottonseed oil contents varied widely from 25.27% to 35.42% in cultivars from upland cotton compared with 34.77% to 38.87% in cultivars from sea-island cotton.Meanwhile,'Pima90-53',a sea-island cotton cultivar,'Xu142' and 'T586',two upland cotton cultivars,were selected to study the development of oil in contents and ingredients during the development of seed.The results showed the content of oil increased coupled with the development of seed,and arrived the content peak when the seed matured.The major ingredients of fatty acid included palmitic acid,stearic acid,oleic acid,and linoleic acid by means of gas chomatography.Among them,linoleic acid could be up to 50%.The content of linoleic acid decreased during the development of seed,while opposite result was found in palmitic acid,stearic acid and oleic acid.Therefore,the content of cottonseed oil could be improved potentially based on the great variation in content of cottonseed oil among the upland cotton cultivars and between the two main cultivated cotton species.