Fatty acid composition, oil yield, and oil content of sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) across different pollination treatments

Sunflower oil, widely used in daily human nutrition and in various industrial applications, is economically important. Sunflower seeds are a rich source of healthy unsaturated fats. Fatty acid composition, particularly the ratio of unsaturated fatty acids to saturated fatty acids, plays a crucial role in determining the nutritional value of oils. Saturated fatty acids include stearic and palmitic acids, while oleic acid and linoleic acids are the predominant unsaturated fatty acids found in sunflower seeds. The quality of sunflower oil is closely related to the concentration of oleic and linoleic acids. In this study, we investigated the fatty acid compositions, oil content, and oil yield of the Helianthus annuus L. variety 'Adadi-1' under different pollination treatments. Using treatments replicated thrice by the randomized complete block design, we analyzed fatty acids from sunflower seeds after oil extraction using gas chromatography-mass spectrophotometry. Our findings revealed that unsaturated fatty acids predominate over saturated ones in sunflower oil. Notably, sunflowers pollinated by honeybees show significantly higher oil content and oil yield compared with self-pollinated ones. Although specific fatty acids (linoleic acid, oleic acid, palmitic acid, and stearic acid) show no significant differences in area percentage and retention time, overall oil yield and oil content vary across pollination treatments. Generally, pollinating sunflowers with honeybees appears to be the optimal approach for achieving high oil yield and oil content for both human consumption and industrial purposes. Further research is needed to explore the effects of bee pollination, self-pollination, and open treatments on fatty acid composition in different agroecological settings.