Performance and seed quality of Moroccan sunflower varieties and Spanish landraces used for confectionery and snack food

Abstract

Sunflower seeds are one of the most important sources of vegetable oil in the world. Additionally, they are used for confectionery and snack food, as well as for bird and pet food. Sunflower germplasm used for food differs between Morocco and Spain. Whereas sunflower seeds used for food in Morocco are mainly obtained from oilseed-type cultivars with black achenes and low hull proportion, those used in Spain derive from confectionery-type cultivars with black and white striped achenes and high hull proportion. The objective of this research was to evaluate the performance and seed quality of Moroccan and Spanish sunflower germplasm used for food. Six cultivars from Morocco and six landraces from Spain were evaluated in replicated field trials in Aïn Taoujdate (Morocco) and Córdoba (Spain) in 2009. Seed yield, hundred-achene weight, hundred-kernel weight, achene oil content, kernel oil content, and fatty acid profile were measured. The results showed that confectionery-type and oilseed-type cultivars did not differ in seed yield, hundred-kernel weight and kernel oil content. Since confectionery-type cultivars from Spain performed similarly to local oilseed-type cultivars, they could be introduced to diversify the offer of in-shell sunflower seed snack in Morocco.

Virulence, genetic diversity, and putative geographical origin of sunflower broomrape populations in Morocco

“…For SA1 and SA2, the results indicate that these populations originated from Eastern Europe, most likely Russia, but this should be confirmed by expanding comparative analysis to a broad set of populations from that area. The origin of these populations in Russia or surrounding countries is not unexpected, since Russian sunflower cultivars such as Peredovik, or other cultivars developed from Russian or Ukrainian germplasm, are cultivated in Morocco (Nabloussi et al, 2011). Therefore, broomrape seeds may have been introduced associated with imported sunflow- er seed, which is one of the main modes of international broomrape dispersion (Fernández-Martínez et al, 2015).…”

Feasibility of growing conventional confectionary sunflower hybrids in organic agriculture: preliminary results of organic trials

“…(Pekcan et al, 2015). However, confectionary type of sunflower is scarcely present in the EU countries (Nabloussi et al, 2011), which offers great opportunity for the producers to convert areas under the conventional sunflower into the organic, and in this way raise the value of this product.…”