Evaluation of Chemical Compositions of Tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L) Genotypes Seeds

Aims: The aim of this research was to determine the chemical and fatty acids composition of different genotypes of tobacco seeds.
Place and Duration of Study: Ten tobacco genotypes grown in Sulaimani-Iraq were investigated in this study. The tobacco seeds were provided by Agricultural station of Bazian, Ministry of Agriculture. The investigations were carried out on air-dried seeds during 2013 in University of Sulaimani, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences.
Methodology: Plants were sampled at different locations of Sulaimani to determine the chemical and fatty acid composition. The seed chemical and fatty acids compositions were determined by Soxhlet, Kjeldahl, Column chromatography, TLC and Gas chromatography methods.
Results: There were significant differences (p˂ 0.05) among genotypes for all studied chemical composition. Protein, ash, fiber and oil contents ranged from 20.861 to 23.872%, from 2.067 to 3.467%, from 13.66 to 19.33% and from 24.56 to 41.933% respectively. The results obtained from phospholipid, sterols and tocopherol showed significant difference among all genotypes. The content of phospholipids, sterols and tocopherols in the oils was 0.453-1.167%, 0.2-0.373% and 0.005-0.007% respectively. The results showed significant difference (p˂ 0.05) among genotypes for all saturated and unsaturated fatty acid. Palmitic saturated fatty acid (21.33 to 25.667%) and oleic unsaturated fatty acids (17.00 to 26.667%) were predominant in the oils.
Conclusion: The results indicated that all genotypes contained large amount of lipid, protein and fiber. Our data showed that the amount of unsaturated fatty acids is higher than the amount of saturated fatty acids in tobacco seeds. The knowledge of the present studies on different genotypes of tobacco seeds could be important to its appropriate industrial use and for improvement in the nutritional value.