Genetic dissimilarity in soybean cultivars with emphasis on fatty acids profile aiming at producing biofuel

Abstract

The properties of the soybean biodiesel, which are determined by the profile and content of fatty acids present in the oil, vary depending on the genetic origin of the raw material used. Thus, this study was performed aiming at assessing the genetic diversity among soybean cultivars, considering the composition of fatty acids, and aiming at producing biodiesel. For this, during the agricultural year of 2013/14, two experiments were carried out in municipality of Palmas, state of Tocantins, at Northern Brazil. The experimental design used in each experiment was a randomized block, with 10 different soybean cultivars, and three replicates. The genetic divergence was assessed by the following multivariate procedures: generalized distance of Mahalanobis and clustering method optimization of Tocher. The fatty acids Oleic (63.7%) and Linoleic (23.53%) were the most effective in explaining the dissimilarity between soybean cultivars. Results have shown that cultivars BRS325RR, TMG1288RR, BRS333RR, and M8766RR present favorable composition of fatty acids for biodiesel production; and that the crossings between the cultivars BRS325RR x BRS333RR, TMG1288RR x BRS333RR, and M8766RR x BRS333RR are potentially promising for biodiesel production with the desirable characteristics.