Niger seed samples were collected from different regions in Ethiopia for determination of oil content, and of fatty acid, tocopherol and sterol composition in the seed oil by gas‐liquid chromatography and high‐performance liquid chromatography methods. There was a large variation in oil content, ranging from 29 to 39%. More than 70% of the fatty acids was linoleic acid (18∶2) in all samples analyzed. The other predominant fatty acids were palmitic (16∶0), stearic (18∶0) and oleic (19∶1) at a range of 6 to 11% each. Total polar lipids recovered after preparative thin‐layer chromatography comprised a small fraction of the total lipids. They had higher 16∶0 and lower 18∶2 contents than the triacylglycerols.α‐Tocopherol was the predominant tocopherol in all samples, 94–96% of the total amounting to 630–800 μg/g oil. More than 40% of the total sterols wasβ‐sitosterol,ca. 2000μg/g oil. The other major sterols were campesterol and stigmasterol, ranging from 11 to 14%. The Δ5‐ and Δ7‐avenasterols were in the range of 4 to 7%. From the samples studied, no conclusion could be drawn regarding the influence of altitude or location on oil content, tocopherol and/or sterol contents. The results of the present study on niger seed oil are discussed in comparison with known data for common oils from Compositae,viz, safflower and sunflower.

Soybean Glycine max (L.) Merrill] is the world's leading source of oil and protein. It has the highest protein content of all food crops and is second only to groundnut in terms of oil content among food legumes. Study on genotype x enviroment interaction (GE) and stability of twenty soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merrill] genotypes was conducted for grain yield, oil and crude protein content at six environments in 2007. The objectives of the experiment were to determine the magnitude of GEI and stability of released and elite soybean genotypes and thereby identify widely and/or specifically adapted genotypes under Ethiopian conditions. There are strong significant (P<0.01) environment, genotype and GEI effects, and environment and GEI captured larger portion of the total sum of squares, which reveals the influence of the two factors in evaluating soybean genotypes and, hence, the need for stability analysis. Three most popular stability parameters were used for stability analysis. Three genotypes that had medium yield performance, IPB-144-81(p), Braxton and Awassa-95, were identified as stable genotypes for grain yield. The three top yielding genotypes, AGS-115-1, TGX-297-6f-1 and AGS-162, were found unstable and can be recommended for narrow adaptation to Gofa, Areka and Inseno, respectively. Haddee-1 and Braxton were genotypes with high oil content and showed stable performance across the environments. TGX-297-6f-1 had high oil content but unstable with specific adaptation to Bonga. Clarck-63k had the highest crude protein content and also very stable one. IPB-144-81(p) and AFGAT had high crude protein content but very unstable and specifically adapted to Areka. 115-1, TGX-297-6f-1 et AGS-162, ont été trouvés instables et peuvent être recommandés pour l'adaptation étroite à Gofa, à Areka et à Inseno, respectivement.Haddee-1 et Braxton étaient des génotypes avec le contenu élevé d'huile et ont demontré une stable performance à travers les environnements. TGX-297-6f-1 a eu le contenu élevé d'huile mais instable avec l'adaptation spécifique à Bonga. Clarck-63k a eu la plus haute teneur en protéines brutes et également la plus stable. IPB-144-81 (p) et AFGAT ont eu la teneur élevée en protéines brutes mais très instable et spécifiquement adapté à Areka.

Coriander (Coriandrum sativum L.) is an annual spice herb that belongs to the family of Umbelliferae/Apiaceae. Although Ethiopia is known as a primary diversity for coriander, the knowledge on nature and extent of variation of the indigenous germplasm is limited. Hence, to address the nature and extent of variability on agronomic and chemical traits, test trial was conducted at Kokate and Wondo Genet, Southern Ethiopia, using 49 accessions arranged in randomised complete block design in two replications during the main season of 2007/08. Data for 15 agronomic and quality traits were measured and statistically tested. In the combined analysis of variance over locations, accessions varied significantly in all the traits except for basal leaf number, plant height and fatty oil contents. The interaction between accessions and environment was significant for nine of the 15 traits. A range of seed yield (910-3099 kg ha -1 ), essential oil (0.25-0.85%) and fatty oil (11.11-16.53%) content was obtained. Overall, highest value of genetic coefficient of variation, broad sense heritability and genetic advance as percent of mean was obtained for longest basal leaf length, days to start 50% flowering, umbels number/plant, umbellets number/umbel, seed number/umbellets, seed number/plant, seed yield/ha and essential oil content.

Noug {Guizotia abyssinica Cass.), a member ofthe Compositae family, is grown as an oilseed crop in Ethiopia. The crop grows best on poorly drained, heavy clay soils. This study investigates the genetic variability of agronomic and seed quality characteristics of 241 noug germplasm collections from different parts of Ethiopia evaluated in a field test at Ghinchi, near Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in 1992, The maturity of the noug accessions ranged from 132 to 168 days. Seed oil contents ranged from 39.8 to 46.9% with linoleic acid being the major fatty acid ofthe oil (76.6% of total fatty acids). The results of this field study indicated that genetic differences for maturity existed among the noug accessions. Oil content variation was continuous, without clear separation of accessions into oil content groups. It is concluded that the genetic variation observed among these accessions could be utihzed in a breeding programme to develop high-yielding, well-adapted, high-oil-content noug cultivars for production in Ethiopia,

The genetic divergence among 49 Ethiopian coriander (Coriandrum sativum L.) accessions was assessed using employing Mahalanobi's distance (D2) analysis based on 15 characters. The accessions were grouped in to eight clusters. Cluster II and III were the largest each with 12 accessions, followed by clusters I and V each consisting of seven accessions. The highest inter-cluster distance (480.5) was observed between clusters I and VIII, followed by clusters V and VIII (462.2), and then clusters II and VIII (336.1). Hence, crossing between accessions included in these clusters may give high heterotic response, and thereby better sergeants. Maximum contribution toward total genetic divergence was possessed by thousand seed weight (15.67%), followed by basal leaf number (13.48%), plant height (10.29%), seeds umbellet-1 (9.81%) and umbel number plant-1 (7.84%). Based on means of all characters, accessions in clusters III, VII and VIII could be regarded as useful sources of genes for yield and its components, and the accessions from these clusters, therefore, could be used in improvement programmes to develop desirable types in coriander.