New Interspecific Brassica Hybrids with High Levels of Heterosis for Fatty Acids Composition

Winter oilseed rape ( Brassica napus L.) is the most important oil crop in Europe. Optimizing the profile and quantity of fatty acids in rapeseed is critical for maximizing the value of edible oil. Although the utilization of crop heterosis for hybrid breeding in rapeseed is limited by the relatively narrow genetic basis of adapted germplasm, an up-to-date significant effort has been made to broaden the rapeseed gene pool using different strategies. The present study was aimed to estimate heterosis for oil quality of the newly developed Brassica interspecific hybrids, using selected parental lines. For this purpose, five parental genotypes and twenty-two interspecific cross-derived Brassica lines were evaluated in a randomized complete block design with three replications in the Greater Poland region during 2009, 2010 and 2011. Generally, the variation among genotypes was evident for most of the tested fatty acids mean values, but the differences between genotypes were not always statistically significant when based on individual fatty acids (FAs). However, the highest number of significant heterosis effects was observed for behenic and lignoceric acids and for Brassica hybrid line H1. Based on obtained results it was possible to select one genotype—the hybrid line H5, which is recommended for further inclusion in the breeding programs.