Profiling peanut (Arachis hypogea L.) accessions and cultivars for oleic acid and yield in Botswana

The ratio of monounsaturated oleic fatty acid to polyunsaturated linoleic fatty acid (O/L) and the associated agronomic traits were profiled for local peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) cultivars and accessions in Botswana. The research was tested on 16 entries planted in four localities across the country. The average total oil yield of the genotypes studied was about 42.1% and there was no significant difference in total oil yield (P < 0.05) across the four research sites and among all entries (accessions). The average mean O/L ratio for all entries was about 1.47. The highest was that of the locally improved variety, Peolwane (2.58), which was significantly different (P < 0.05) from all other accessions, and the lowest is that of the local accession GO 63 (1.23). This study also profiled the agronomic yield traits to identify genotypes that have both high oil quality and high yielding potential. No correlation was detected between pod yield and O/L ratio among the tested genotypes. The station with little rainfall but adequate repartition showed a very high O/L ratio for some genotypes, and future work is recommended to test this interesting observation on the correlation between moisture stress and oil quality.