Orychophragmus violaceus, a Potential Edible-oil Crop

Orychophragmus violaceus, a member of the Cruciferae family, has been found to have a high oil quality with high contents of palmitic (14.3 %) and oleic (20.3 %) acids, and lower contents of linolenic (4.8 %) and erucic (0.9 %) acids. Plants of O. violaceus exhibit a high number of branches, pods per plant, and seeds per pod, which contributes to the high yield potential of this plant. Individual selection was made in the original population of O. violaceus, and a few early, disease-tolerant and high-yielding lines were obtained. Intergeneric hybridization was performed between B. napus and O. violaceus and several hybrid plants (F₁) were obtained. After treatment with colchicine, amphidiploid plants developed. O. violaceus shows great potential for becoming an edible oil crop or being used as genetic material in a rapeseed breeding programme.