FATTY ACID AND CAROTENE COMPOSITION IN ELAEIS OLEIFERA, INTERSPECIFIC HYBRID, AND THE FIRST PSEUDO-BACKCROSS IN NORTH SUMATRA, INDONESIA

Abstract

Three hundred and ninety-five tree samples consisted of the wild population of Elaeis oleifera from Brazil and Suriname, their hybrid with Elaeis guineensis, and the first pseudo-backcross was successfully observed for fatty acid character and total carotene using gas chromatography and UV spectrophotometry. Observations were made on more than 648 bunches in a 17-month interval. The phenotype of fatty acid composition and total carotene has a wider diversity than commercial varieties in Indonesia today. The first pseudo-backcross of both E. oleifera Brazil and Suriname origin populations are more potentially to be introgressed into current breeding programme than their wild and hybrids populations due to their stems growth that have inherited the nature of E. guineensis. Some individuals with > 50% oleic unsaturated fatty acid and ³ 2000 ppm of carotene content were found in the first pseudo-backcross population. Correlation analysis among fatty acids is also presented in this paper which shows slightly different relationships between hybrid and first pseudo-backcross populations. Further research is required such as tissue culture techniques and association studies to accelerate the use of E. oleifera descendant material.