Genotypic Variation in Fatty Acids in Whole Grain Sesame (Fatty Acids in Whole Grain Sesame)

Fatty acids (FAs) are important desirable compounds in oil crops. Here, we evaluated the amounts of 14 FAs in sesame grains using gas chromatography mass spectrometry and investigated the effects of genotype and environment on FA composition in 2 years. Unsaturated FA fractions accounted for 80.018% of the total FAs in sesame in 2014 and 78.936% in 2015. C16:1 and C20:1 levels exhibited few effects from the environment, while other FAs were affected significantly by environmental variance. C18:1 and C24:0 were significantly correlated with population structure. We also identified 249 QTLs that were strongly associated with the amounts of 14 FAs in sesame. These findings will be useful for understanding FA metabolism in sesame and for improving the quality of sesame through molecular breeding in the future.