Recurrent selection for increased protein content in yellow mustard (Sinapis alba L.)

Increasing protein content is an important objective in breeding high protein oilseed yellow mustard (Sinapis alba L). The objectives of this research were to increase meal protein content, study population variation during three cycles of selection for increased meal protein content, and quantify the relationships of protein with oil and 1000‐seed weight. Recurrent selection was employed with half‐sib family evaluation in replicated field trials. Meal protein content increased by an average of 1 % per cycle. The correlation between meal protein and seed oil content was negative (r= ‐0.49 to ‐0.58). The population shifts, with selection, reflected successful increase of average meal protein content, and an increased frequency of genotypes with high meal protein content. Furthermore, simultaneous selection for meal protein and seed oil content was possible. The correlation between meal protein content and seed weight was positive (r= 0.29‐0.39) and thus selecting for increased meal protein content posed no risk of decreasing seed weight in this yellow mustard germplasm.