Effect Of Genetic Diversity On Expression Of Heterosis In Indian Mustard Brassica Juncea L Czern Coss

Abstract

Indian mustard is an important oilseed crop have important place in Indian diet as a source of edible oil, condiment and leafy vegetable and due to its high stability, it s also used as preservatives in pickles. Mustard seed contains about 38 to 43 per cent oil which is golden-yellow in color, fragrant and is considered to be the healthiest and nutritious for cooking. Mustard oil possess one of the best fatty acids profile, high monounsaturated fatty acids (70%), low saturated fatty acids (8%) and alpha linolenic acid (10%), among the various vegetable oils, which reduces the risk of coronary heart diseases by almost 70%. Making it devoid of glucosinolates and erucic acid fractions, the mustard oil would be at par with olive oil considering the fatty acid profile regarding healthy for human consumption. India is the fourth largest oilseed producing country in the world after USA, China and Brazil and ranks third (19.29 %) after Canada (24.55%) and China (20.58%) in terms of acreage. Though the production of Indian mustard has increased from 7.92 million tonnes in the year 2016-17 to 8.43 million tonnes in the year 2017-18 it is not enough to fulfill the domestic demand for rapeseed mustard. newline