Published online by Cambridge University Press: 03 September 2020
In this study, maize landraces, previously collected from different regions of Turkey through a national maize breeding project, were screened for kernel oil content and oil quality. After a seed reproduction in 2017, the screening trial was conducted in 2018, using an Augmented Experimental Design with 192 local maize populations along with seven check hybrids. Data were collected on oil, oleic acid, linoleic acid, monounsaturated (MUFA), polyunsaturated and saturated fatty acids, total carotenoid and total tocopherol contents. The results showed that there was a considerable amount of genetic variation among the Turkish maize landraces for almost all the traits investigated in this study. Some of the evaluated landraces are available that could be considered as high oil variety or special genotypes in terms of certain oil quality traits. Landraces had significantly higher values than checks for oil content, oleic acid, MUFA and tocopherol contents. Genetic analyses suggest that the kernel quality traits could be successfully manipulated using the investigated plant material. Heritability values were found high for all the traits of interest, except for saturated fatty acid and total carotenoid content. The promising landraces detected in this study could be exploited in future breeding programmes upon further evaluations at the population level.