Analysis and evaluation of seed kernel oil content and fatty acid components of Acer truncatum in Central China

In order to screen out the high-oil Acer truncatum germplasm resources so as to improve the yield and value of seed oil, this experiment was carried out by analyzing and evaluating a total of 70 samples from natural populations of A. truncatum in nine Central Plains of China, the results were subjected to nested ANOVA and correlation analyses, as well as a comprehensive evaluation of the various groups using principal component analysis and the affiliation function method. The findings demonstrated that the 70 samples ranged in seed kernel oil content from 14.43% to 50.11% (average 33.11%), and that the major fatty acid fractions had coefficients of variation that ranged from 24.13% to 33.40%, with differences between them being significant. According to correlation analysis, latitude, temperature, and precipitation had a greater impact on the seed kernel oil content than they did on the relative content of fatty acid fractions. Altitude, temperature, and precipitation were the primary causes of changes in the content of fatty acid fractions. The principal component analysis reduced the nine indexes to two principal components with a cumulative contribution rate of 84.29%, and ranked them according to the comprehensive evaluation value obtained from the principal component analysis and the transformation of the affiliation function. The analysis screened out the ten germplasm samples with the highest comprehensive quality and the three samples with the highest comprehensive evaluation value.