Abstract

Keeping in view, lack  of adequate information on  genetic  diversity  in  the  Ethiopian linseed (Linum ustatisimum L.) landraces on one hand and its immense importance in the agricultural systems on the other hand in Ethiopia, 49 accessions collected from five regions of Ethiopia together  with fifteen exotic cultivars were  used  in  this  study  with  the objective of investigating biochemical diversity between and within germplasms. The variation among and between Ethiopian linseed landrace accession and exotic cultivars based on grand mean responses revealed that, higher oil content (39.8%) was recorded by exotic cultivar [PI-52335] and the lowest was by Acc. 219333 from Oromia with 30.63%. The highest palmitic proportion (7.06% of all fatty acids) was observed in an Ethiopian accession [Acc. 237494] collected from the province Tigray. Maximum and minimum stearic acid was found in accessions collected from the Oromia Region with 6.21 and 4.74% from Acc. 13545 and 13756, respectively. Maximum oleic acid (21.4%) was also observed in Acc. 13545 that was collected from the Oromia region. Crude protein, crude fat and iodine value were analyzed and discussed. The diversity of Ethiopian linseed landraces will keep serving as a reservoir for future genetic improvements. The  first  three  principal  components  accounted  for  more  than 73.3%  of  the  total  variation.  The genotypes were grouped into five clusters for which Mahalanobis’ D² statistics was calculated. Maximum distance was observed between cluster 1 and 4 (D² = 32.79) and the minimum (D² = 5.08), between clusters 2 and 1 and also between 3 and 2. A correlation analysis revealed the presence of associations among seed oil traits. It could also be concluded that there was ample variation among Ethiopian linseed landraces and exotic cultivars, implying opportunities for genetic improvements by plant breeding.

Key words: Genetic diversity, fatty acid, flax, seed oil content.