The effect of meteorological conditions on the biochemical characteristics of sunflower seeds of the variety Skormas

The seeds of early-ripening sunflower variety Skormas of the 2016-2018 years of cultivation became the material for the research. The article presents the results of oil content, total protein content, and analysis of amino acid composition. We conducted the research in the protein laboratory of the department of biological research of V.S. Pustovoit All-Russian Research Institute of Oil Crops. The protein content in the seeds of variety Skormas in different growth seasons varied from 19.00 to 23.58 g, the coefficient of variation was C = 10.76 %. We established a strong inverse relation between oil content and protein content - r= -0.99. The meteorological conditions influenced the total protein content and oil content of the variety in different years of cultivation. Thus, with the hydrothermal coefficient (HC) equal to 1.2 in the growth season of 2016, the protein content in the seeds was 21.61 g, and with the HC equal to 0.6 of 2017, characterized as arid, it was 23.58 g. The protein content inversely correlates with the moisture supply of plants - r= -0.94. In years with insufficient soil moistening, sunflower seeds accumulate less oil and more protein. We identified the largest amount of the essential amino acids, 25.74 g/100g, in the seeds of variety Skormas, grown in 2018. The number of non-essential amino acids of 2016 and 2018 turned out to be nearly at the same level - 47.98 and 47.19 g/100g. Despite the differences in the total protein content, the amino acid composition of the seeds of the variety is fairly stable in the different growth seasons. The protein of seeds of the variety Skormas contains a large amount of glutamic acid - 16.46 g/100g and aspartic acid - 7.55 g/100g. In course of three years, their amount turned out to be stable. The coefficient of variation of these acids was С = 2.14 % and С = 2.40 %, respectively. The average content of the essential amino acid lysine for the same period was 2.42 g/100g with the coefficient of variation С = 12.14 %. The non-essential amino acids tyrosine and cysteine were at the level of 1.74 g/100g and 0.54 g/100g with the coefficient of variation С = 13.59 % and С = 16.32 %.