THE CONTENT OF SELECTED ELEMENTS IN COMMON FLAX SEEDS (LINUM USITATISSIMUM L.) DEPENDING ON THE CULTIVAR AND WEATHER CONDITIONS

The aim of the study was to evaluate the effect of different cultivars and weather conditions on the content of minerals: K, Na, Mg, Ca, Zn, Cu, Mn and Fe in linseed (Linum usitatissimum L.). In total, 11 common flax cultivars of four utility types were analysed. Field experiments were carried out in Poznan (Poland) between 2003 and 2005 and between 2008 and 2014. The study showed that the chemical composition of flax seeds was determined by differences between cultivars, the weather conditions and the cultivar-year interactions. The seeds of the Alba cultivar, representing the fibre type, had the highest content of all the elements measured in our study. The results demonstrated that none of the four types of utility cultivars was distinguished by a particularly high content of minerals in the seeds. Hence, the seeds of the flax cultivars of all the types used in our study may be used as sources of valuable macro- and microelements. The content of some minerals in the seeds of different flax cultivars was significantly correlated with the average temperatures and the average rainfall during the research period. The concentrations of calcium and zinc were not correlated with the weather conditions. The content of four elements (Na, Mg, Cu, Fe) was negatively correlated with temperature, whereas the content of potassium was positively correlated with this factor. Concentrations of three elements (K, Na, Fe) were negatively correlated with rainfall, whereas the concentration of manganese was positively correlated with this factor.