Diet, nutrition, and fats are often the subject of heated debates and animated
discussions at dining tables, in laboratories, and on health shows on television.
The informed and the health-conscious scrutinize, literally, every grain they
eat. No surprise then that the grains of the Indian rapeseed-mustard (Brassica)
do not find any takers in the international export market. The high content
of erucic acid and glucosinolates in it keeps the international market at bay.
Erucic acid is feared to be an agent of cardiac problems and high glucosinolates
in the oil cake are not desired for animal feed.
The balancing act
Rapeseed-mustard is the second most important edible oilseed crop in India and
its nutritional advantages outdo many other edible oils. It has the lowest amount
of harmful saturated fatty acids, and also contains the two essential fatty
acids – linoleic and linolenic – that most other edible oils do
not possess. The high amounts of erucic acid and glucosinolates define its drawbacks.
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| TERI Uttam: the first double-low variety released for cultivation
in Madhya Pradesh |
In the early 1990s, researchers at TERI took up the challenge to produce a
variety that retained the existing nutritional properties and minimized the
detrimental effects of the undesired components in the oil and oil-free cake.
About the Indian rapeseed-mustard
The rapeseed-mustard produced in India does not match up to the requisite international
standards of canola quality—less than 2% erucic acid and more than 60%
oleic acid in the seed oil and less than 30 micromoles of glucosinolate per
gram of oil-free cake. The efforts made by Indian scientists to introduce exotic
canola quality (commonly known as double-low or ‘OO’) cultivars
met with limited success due to their unsuitability to Indian agro-climatic
conditions.
Adding to the dilemma was the fact that erucic acid and glucosinolate contents
are governed by multiple recessive genes. Thus, a combination of conventional
methods of plant breeding coupled with biotechnological approaches were employed
to develop new strains.
On par with the best
Intelligent selection of plants having desired quality parameters as well as
good yielding attributes plays the most critical part in the development of
rapeseed-mustard of canola-quality variety. To overcome the difficulties in
crossing diverse varieties, an in vitro sequential embryo rescue technique was
established. The half-seed technique along with improved methods of gas chromatography
and high performance liquid chromatography were established and employed for
quick, quantitative estimation of fatty acids and glucosinolates, followed by
rigorous selections in field.
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| In vitro embryo rescue and plantlet regeneration |
The result was the development of seven genetically enhanced rapeseed-mustard
strains that have been registered by the ICAR’s (Indian Council of Agricultural
Research) committee on germplasm registration. Work is under way to combine
attributes of high yield and superior nutritional quality in B. juncea genotypes.
TERI Uttam, the first double-low variety in India with high oil content (>43%),
is tolerant to pod shattering and white rust. Its high oleic acid content (>60%)
gives it longer shelf life. It yielded on par or higher than the national check
varieties, when tested at multi locations under the All India Coordinated Research
Project on Rapeseed and Mustard, ICAR. T ERI-Uttam has been released for cultivation
in Madhya Pradesh; scientists and farmers are enthusiastically looking forward
to the first international quality variety for their state.
The enhanced quality strains registered by
ICAR
T E R I (OO) R9903 - INGR 04077 [T E R I Uttam]; high oil content,
canola quality, early maturing B. napus
TERI-GZ-05 - INGR 04078 [T E R I Uphaar]; high oleic and linoleic
acid, yellow seeded, double low B. juncea
T E R I (OO) R986-INGR 99007 [T E R I Gaurav]; early maturing, dwarf
double-low B. napus
T E R I (OO) R985-INGR 99008 [TERI Garima]; high oleic acid, double-low
B. napus
T E
R I (OE) R09-INGR 98005 [T E R I Shyamali]; low erucic acid, high
oleic B. napus
T E R I (OE) R03-INGR 98002 [T E R I Phaguni]; low erucic-acid, early
maturing B. napus
T E R I (OE) M21-INGR 98001 [T E R I Swarna]; low erucic acid, yellow-seeded,
early maturing B. juncea |
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| HPLC chromatograph for glucosinolates |
Beneficiaries
The canola-quality oil produced from the new variety, fittingly called TERI
Uttam, is nutritionally superior. Its oil meal attracts nearly 1.3 times the
price commanded in the international market. This has created a larger niche
in the market for it to fetch a premium price and substantial foreign exchange.
Applications/benefits
The new, nutritionally improved oilseed, TERI Uttam, has the potential of commercialization
under contract farming for production of new health oils and meals as per international
standards. The improved oil-free cake will also benefit the animal husbandry
sector. Even with a conservative estimate, the oil and meal together will fetch
almost double the price per hectare. Thus, masses too can exercise their right
to a healthier option while farmers can get a premium price for the produce.
