Mode of inheritance and combining ability of oleic acid content in groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.)

Abstract Oleic is a major fatty acid in groundnut that determines the quality, nutritional and shelf-life of groundnut products. The genetic control of this trait is vital for high oleic groundnut breeding programs. Hence this study was conducted to understand the inheritance pattern and combining ability of high oleic acid in groundnut. The 12 F1 progenies and their parents were evaluated in RCBD with three replications at Akomadan and Fumesua, Ghana. The results revealed significant variability among all the traits studied. Genotype × Environment interactions were significant for oleic, linoleic and palmitic acids. The general combining ability (GCA) and specific combining ability (SCA) effects were highly significant for oleic, linoleic, palmitic and stearic acids. But the contribution of SCA effect was much lower than the GCA for oleic and linoleic acids. The results suggested that additive gene effect was of greater importance in the inheritance of oleic and linoleic acids concentrations. Numex 01 and Numex 02 were identified as the best general combiners to improve oleic acid content. Narrow sense heritability was moderately high for oleic fatty acid suggesting selecting for the trait would be rewarding because of the presence of favourable additive genetic effect.