Effect of Irrigation on the Oil Content and Fatty Acid Composition of Some Sunflower Seeds

The effect of irrigation on the seed yield, oil yield, and oil composition of sunflower in populations of Ekiz1 and VNIIMK 8931, a mixture of N2, N3, and N4 lines, and a synthetic variety obtained from these lines has been studied. The major fatty acid was found to be oleic acid, in addition to linoleic, palmitic, and stearic acids. Irrigation increased seed yield, oil yield, and oil content of all samples. In two of them, the synthetic variety and VNIIMK 8931, the increase was found to be statistically significant. In addition, irrigation of the samples did not increase significantly the amount of oleic and linoleic acids. On the contrary, the amount of linoleic acid in the mixture of N2, N3, and N4 lines and oleic acid in VNIIMK 8931 decreased statistically significantly.