Efficiencies of some vitamins in improving yield and quality of flax plant

Abstract

Two field experiments were conducted during two successive winter seasons in the experimental farm of the Agriculture Research Center of Giza in Egypt to study the effect of some vitamins (vitamin B9, vitamin C and vitamin B12) on the yield and quality of flax plant. The results showed that foliar application of these vitamins significantly increased the growth parameters, as well as photosynthetic pigments compared with the control plants. All treatments induced the plants to flower and to produce fruits earlier than the control plants, enhanced fiber yield and quality, and improved the quality of flax seeds that induced oil yield per feddan. The vitamin treatments did not only stimulate oil production, but also activated the antioxidative properties of flax seeds in terms of increasing the endogenous contents of glutathione, ascorbic acid and total phenols. However, the observed stimulation of oil production was found to be at the expense of carbohydrate and protein accumulation in vitamin - treated flax plants.   Key words: Flax, vitamins, antioxidants, fiber yield and quality, omega-3 fatty acid.