Fatty acids, chemical composition and organic matter digestibility of seeds and vegetative parts of false flax (Camelina sativa L.) after different lengths of growth

False flax (Camelina sativa L.) was studied to determine the fatty acid (FA) composition, chemical composition, in vitro organic matter digestibility, and gross energy of the seeds and of the plant during growth. Herbage samples were collected five times at progressive morphological stages from the vegetative to the ripe seed-pod stage. The fatty acid analyses disclosed quantitative differences between the plant stages. The linoleic acid (LA, 18:2 n-6) and palmitic acid (PA, 16:0) increased with increasing growth stage, while the alpha-linolenic acid (ALA, 18:3 n-3) content ranged from 560 g/kg of total FA, at the vegetative stage, to 484 g/kg of total FA at the ripe seed-pod stage. The pattern of fatty acids in the plant during growth, characterised by these three dominant fatty acids, was also differed from that of the seeds, where the average contents of oleic acid (18:1 n-9), LA, ALA, and gondoic acid (20:1 n-9) were 129, 177, 373, and 144g/kg of total FA, respectively. The n-6/n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid ratio of the plant increased from 0.18, at the vegetative stage, to 0.38, at the ripe seed-pod stage, while in the seed it was 0.59. The dry matter content (DM), organic matter (OM), neutral detergent fibre (NDFom), acid detergent fibre (ADFom), lignin (lignin (sa)) and gross energy (GE) increased with increasing growth stage, while the crude protein, ash, and in vitro organic matter digestibility (IVOMD) decreased with increasing stage and the ether extract content decreased from the vegetative stage to the early seed-pod stage and then increased at the ripe seed-pod stage. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.