Development of the method for determination of the mucilage forming ability of flax seeds as a new breeding trait

The concept of visualization and measurement of linear dimensions of slime capsules around individual swollen seeds of oil flax was proposed and implemented for the first time. The studies were carried out in 2020-2022 on the basis of the Federal State Budgetary Research Center VNIIMK, Krasnodar on five varieties of oil flax of own breeding. Various methods of visualizing the boundaries of mucilage capsules around moistened oilseeds have been tested on these varieties. Among them, the most obvious method was chosen in the form of soaking of dry flax seeds in a buffer solution with a colorant, followed by fixing the size of the mucilage zones formed in the seed circle. For the mathematical description of the shape of oil flax seeds, the three-dimensional geometric shape - an ellipsoid, which is closest in shape and proportions, and the corresponding mathematical algorithms for calculating its volume, cross-section and longitudinal section have been selected. The well-known mathematical algorithms for calculating the configuration of the longitudinal and cross-section of ellipses is optimized for calculating the cross-section of the bottom semi-ellipsoid forms of mucilage capsules of oil seeds during gravitational runoff of peripheral sections of low-molecular-weight slime to a flat bottom surface. A mathematical algorithm has been selected to calculate the shape of the longitudinal and cross-sections of the mucilage capsule around the seed of oil flax for the case of compensation for the deforming effect of gravitational runoff, forming a symmetrical appearance close to the shape of the mucilage capsules of oil flax seeds in the soil. The practical use of the chosen mathematical algorithms for the first time allowed us to formulate the concept of the mucilage-forming ability of seeds, and to evaluate the formation of this trait in five varieties of oil flax bred at VNIIMK. The results of the calculations showed the presence of significant genotypic polymorphism according to new features for oil flax, such as the volume of the mucilage capsule with the seed included in it, the net volume of the mucilage capsule of an individual seed and the total mucilage-forming ability of the seed.