Provenance variations in kernel oil content, fatty acid profile and biodiesel properties of Xanthoceras sorbifolium Bunge in northern China

In China, plantations of Xanthoceras sorbifolium Bunge are grown on more than 170,000 ha. X. sorbifolium is a promising bioenergy crop as its seed oil is a suitable feedstock for biodiesel. In this work, X. sorbifolium seeds were collected from 26 populations distributed over a wide geographic area across northern China. Differences were found among accessions in seeds oil contents, fatty acids profiles and quality indexes of the biodiesel. Seed oil content was found to vary from 56.54% to 76.27%. Most of the accessions showed 60-70 % oil content, and a few accessions showed more than 70 % oil content. As revealed by gas chromatography, the contents of the three major fatty acids were found to significantly vary in the seed oils is linoleic acid (C18:2) (39.83-46.05 %), followed by oleic acid (C18:1) (26.02-33.04 %) and erucic acid (C22:1) (7.71-8.99 %). In respect to unsaturated fatty acids (UFAs), monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA(S)) in each of estimated classes of accessions was predominant and most abundant in broad range of minimum-maximum values from 44.42% to 51.00%. The X. sorbifolium accessions were distinctly grouped into 3 clusters on the basis of the Ward's hierarchical clustering method. After analyzing these indicators, it showed clearly that Naiman (P9) provenance is the best performer in produce biodiesel can be selected as a source of planting material, followed by Anqiu (P18). And the relationship between these parameters and the environment was determined, the results indicate that latitude, MAT (mean annual temperature) and longitude are the three key environmental factors affecting the fatty acid profile of X. sorbifolium.