The Centre's research is not limited to legumes. Other non-legume species and also minor crops are also in CLIMA’s focus
Quinoa as a new crop in Australia
Chenopodium quinoa growing at the University Field Station, Shenton Park
Quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa) is a ‘pseudo-cerea’ originating in South America. It has more protein than most cereal grains and its amino acid profile is excellent.
The crop is reported to be tolerant of both salt and drought, and there is increasing interest in using the grain for food uses because it is gluten-free and highly nutritious.
Through soil suitability and climate analysis, followed by field trials, we will determine which Australian regions it is likely to be suited to, and we will identify the highest yielding germplasm lines.
Funding and donors
- Department of Agriculture and Food, Western Australia
- Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation
Project Leaders
Research partners/project personnel
- Dr Peter White
- Mr Gordon Francis
Camelina sativa: unlocking the potential of an ancient oil crop
Flower of ‘gold-of-pleasure’ Camelina sativa
2009 – 2010
Camelina shows promise as an alternative oilseed for the drier cropping areas of southern Australia that do not have a current oilseed option in the cropping rotation.
Camelina has been reported to contain high levels of Omega-3 fatty acids, and is second only to linseed or flax oil in terms of a plant-derived source of Omega-3. Omega-3 fatty acids have been shown to provide significant heath benefits and higher consumption is recommended in Western diets.
In addition, the oil from Camelina has been used for biodiesel production (USA), for cosmetics (owing to its emollient properties) and for industrial applications because of its drying properties.
The US Food and Drug Administration recently certified Camelina meal as acceptable for up to 10 per cent of cattle feed rations. This will open the door to market development for this previously underutilised crop.
CLIMA has developed a significant germplasm collection as part of previous RIRDC-supported projects. We undertook to measure the diversity within this germplasm from a genetic, agronomic and biochemical viewpoint.
The major outcomes of this project were:
- An AFLP-based diversity analysis showed a highly diverse germplasm collection derived predominantly from Russian and Ukrainian sources.
- An oil quality analysis of 30 accessions’ showed up to 55 per cent Omega-3 in the oil profile of some accessions. This is considerably higher than that given within previous literature.
- Flow cytometry revealed an average diploid genome size of ca. 1.49 pg 2C DNA content.
- We identified variability for important agronomic characters such as 100-seed weight and large seed size.
- A Shenton College student, Ms Emily Phillimore, undertook aspects of this research and was co-winner of the 2010 WA Regional Finals of the BioGENEius competion.
Funding and donors
- Centre for Legumes in Mediterranean Agriculture, UWA
Project Leaders
- Dr Janine Croser, Dr Kioumars Ghamkhar , Ms Maragaret Campbell , Prof Clive Francis, Dr Nader AryaManesh
Research partners/project personnel
- N.I. Vavilov Research Institute of Plant Industry, Russia: Dr Nina Kon’kova
Production of hexaploid Brassica through interspecific hybridization of tetraploid Brassica juncea and diploid oleracea
Canola
Brassica species are important edible oil (B. juncea) and vegetables (B. oleracea) crops world wide.
B. juncea (tetraploid) is well adapted to drought conditions whilst B. oleacea (diploid) is grown under irrigation. Nature has showed us that hexaploid common wheat is higher yielding with wider adaptation than the tetraploid durum wheat. Production of hexaploid Brassica plants is a process of learning from nature and applying innovation to advance Brassica production for edible oils and vegetables in various environments with higher yield. Improved ability to produce interspecific F1 hybrids between B. juncea and B. oleracea will lead to production of hexaploid populations.
Funding and donors
- UWA Research scheme
Project Leaders
Research partners/project personnel
- Huazhong Agricultural University, China
- School of Plant Biology, UWA.
University information
CRICOS Code: 00126G
