The rluality ofrdible oils is now receiving incrri~sirigcnnsidrrati[)n lio~n mnsumers and prowssors. The present study \rrii$ mnducted to invrstigate the effects of environments on oil contrnt and fictty acid composition in peanut. 'The corrrlatiorr hetweel~ oil content andoil qui~litypara~neterswasalsostu~lird.Thirteen prilnut (Arcrcl~is hypopea I..) grnotprs were grown in 12 enviro~~~nrnts for the study. Soils at experiment locations differed siprificantlv for ptl. EC;, and N, P. %n, Mn, and Fe contents. Sipiificant &rnotyl>e. .. '. enrironmrnt, and grrlotyp x environment ~ntrractiu~l rf'f;,cts wcrcs observed for oil content, individual fath acid cnntents, andderivrd oil quillitv p;rrameters. T l~r original rd~ige of 34.54% of'oil content b i d on one srasonAccation' rvaluatibn in these lin~s WLLS 110t repeatable, and ranged from 4.5-50% in rnc~ltilocation rvaluiltiun. Oil content was positively turrrli~ted with soil pII and Fe cnntent. The correlatio~~ ofoleic ant! linolerc acid content with soil pll inrtl Fecontent was positive ill ttlr fornlerdnd ncptiveirl tlle latter Thfs oil cmtent was psitivrly cnrrclatrd with OIL ratio. Oliec and linoleic acid contents were nrgativrly corrrli~ted. Selrction for reduced linoleic acid level in genotypes would also rcducr levels ol' total long chain saturated fatty (TLCSF) itcitls. Of the thirtec~~ genotypes tested. ICC 5856, ICG 5360, and ICC;\'Ri124 could Irr usell in hreeding for improved oil quality.

Seed mass, oil and protein contents are important quality traits in peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.). Sixty-four genotypes were grown for four seasons to study genetic variation and character association between these three traits. Graded seed samples of 33 genotypes were further studied for possible variation within genotype among grades for oil and protein contents. No significant association of seed mass with percent oil or protein contents was observed among the 64 genotypes. However, oil and protein contents were significantly negatively associated. Oil content variation within a genotype showed a significant linear increase as the seed mass increased in the graded samples, but no such relationship was observed with protein content. Genotypes with desirable traits for confectionery and/or oil types were identified and may be used for germplasm enhancement.

No abstract

Several groundnut (Arachis hypoguea L) cultivars developed by theInternational Crops Research Institute for the Semi-arid Tropics (ICRISAT), and one local cultivar for use as a control were grown in the post-rainy and rainy seasons at Patancheru, India. Free and bound lipids were extracted and their fatty acid compositions determined. Acid, peroxide, iodine and saponification values were determined. Flavour quality was evaluated using headspace analysis. The quantity of total lipids was significantly higher in the cultivars grown in the rainy season than those grown in the post-rainy season and was higher in the ICRISAT cultivars than in the control in both seasons. Oleic (0) to linoleic (L) acid ratio was lowest in the chloroform-methanol extract and highest in water-saturated butanol extract. One ICRISAT line, ICGS 21, showed the highest O/L ratio in all lipid fractions in both seasons. Among the flavour components, n-methyl pyrrole, associated with an objectionable musty flavour, was present in very high concentration in all the cultivars.

In various forms of purified collagen (powder of insoluble collagen from bovine skin, fibers from rat tail tendons, membrane from bovine gut), carboxyl groups were activated by carbodiimide to allow covalent binding of heparin. Collagen powder and collagen fibers from rat tail tendons were also incubated in a heparin solution under the same reaction conditions but without carbodiimide present to account for other forms of collagen-heparin interaction. It was found that the linkage of heparin to collagen formed in the presence of carbodiimide is stable, as heparin was minimally extractable by 0.2M buffers with a pH ranging from 5 to 9. Collagen powder incubated with heparin in the absence of carbodiimide released heparin almost completely into Tris buffer of pH 9.0. As a consequence of covalent binding of heparin to collagen, the collagen fibers became more stable as shown by their significantly reduced swelling capacity and significantly increased shrinkage temperature. Collagen fibers interacted with heparin in the absence of carbodiimide also showed some stabilization of their structure, which was, however, significantly less than with carbodiimide reaction. By two independent methods it was shown that heparin linked to collagen by a stable bond retains its anticoagulant activity. It is concluded that, in the presence of carbodiimide, heparin covalently binds to collagen thus forming an antithrombogenic surface. At the same time, collagen is crosslinked. Incubation of collagen in the solution of heparin without carbodiimide also stabilizes collagen structure, but to a significantly lesser degree. Such a linkage is unstable as heparin dissociates and is readily extractable into 0.2M Tris buffers with pH 7-9.