Sharad Pandey, Manoj Kabdaland M.K.Tripathi

Rapeseed-mustard is second most important group of oilseed crops next to groundnut. Among these, Indian mustard [Brassica juncea (L.) Czern and Coss] is the most important crop grown during rabi season. Though the productivity of Indian mustard in India has considerably improved in last decade but it is still very low in comparison to many European countries. On the other hand, Rapeseed – mustard have been used as a source of oil since long time. The reason for low use of the oil is the presence of high percentage of erucic acid and linolenic acid contents in the oil, which not only deteriorate the oil quality but are also known to produce harmful effects on the body. In the present study one zero erucic acid line PRQ-9701-46 was crossed with  JM-1 (46.29%), a high erucic acid cultivar including reciprocals to find out the number of genes controlling inheritance of erucic acid in Brassica juncea. The erucic acid content of F₁’s and their reciprocals was intermediate between the parents thus indicating embryonic control of erucic acid and absence of maternal effect in the inheritance of erucic acid in B. juncea. Erucic acid content of F₂ seeds segregated into 5 classes (<2%, 10-22%, 22-34%, 34-46% and 46% erucic acid) with a ratio of 1:4:6:4:1 Backcross seeds of BC₁ generation segregated into three classes (<2%, 10-22%, 22-34% erucic acid) with a ratio of 1:2:1 and backcross seeds of BC₂ generation segregated into three classes 22-34%, 34-46% and >46% erucic acid) with a ratio of 1:2:1. The segregation patterns confirmed that inheritance of erucic acid content in B. juncea was governed by two genes with additive effects.

Key words: Indian mustard, oil, erucic acid, inheritance