Yield Traits of Red Radish Seeds Obtained from Plants Produced from γ-Irradiated Seeds and Their Oil Characteristics

Abstract

Red radish is an important root crop worldwide owing to its broad adjustment, high yield, and abundant nutritional contents. So, this study was conducted on radish seeds taken from plants established from seeds that were irradiated by different dose levels of gamma-ray (10, 20, 40 and 80 Gy) as well as the un-irradiated sample (control) to evaluate the changes in seed yield traits (number of pods/plant (NPP); total weight of pods/plant (TWPP) in grams; seed yield/plant (SYP) in grams; 100-seeds weight (100-SW) in grams). Proximate composition of the seeds yield, as well as the oil yield and its physico-chemical properties plus the bioactive ingredients of this oil were concerned. The results indicated that all traits of seeds yield were highly significant for all irradiation treatments except for 100-seed weight, which was not affected by irradiation treatments, and the dose of 40 Gy gave the best traits. There is a positive effect of irradiation on most of the proximate composition, except the content of crude fiber and moisture which were decreased by irradiation treatments. Furthermore, γ-rays improved the minerals content of red radish seeds and the dose of 80 Gy was the most effective dose for increasing the content of nitrogen, potassium, and sodium, while the dose of 20 Gy gave the highest calcium content. As for the oil, the results showed that the oil yield increased by gamma-rays and the maximum yield was gained with dose level of 20 Gy (34.80%). The fatty acids composition was affected by γ-rays different dose levels and erucic & oleic acids were the predominant mono-unsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs) while, linoleic & linolenic acids were the major polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs). Concerning the physico-chemical properties of the oil samples, it was observed that irradiation decreased the iodine value, while the acid, saponification, and ester values increased in all treatments, but on the contrary, the peroxide value was not affected by irradiation. With regard to the bioactive compounds of seeds oil and their antioxidant activity, were increased by irradiation. Therefore, radish oil is considered unconventional oil and can be evaluated as an alternative to traditionally consumed vegetable oils or as additives to them.