Soybean Enhancement for Improved Biodiesel Production.

Oleic acid, a monounsaturated fatty acid, is reported to strike the best balance between cold flow properties and oxidative stability to enhance biodiesel test results and produce a better burning fuel.  Research was conducted in 2007-2008 to evaluate six newly developed Roundup Ready® soybean recombinant inbred lines with a novel oil profile, exhibiting enhanced levels of monounsaturated fatty acid. The six increased oleic acid lines averaged 38.1 % oleic acid, 4.7 % linolenic acid and yielded 3485 kg ha^-1, while the two commercial checks (AG3906 and AG4103) averaged 23.8 % oleic acid, 8.3 % linolenic acid and yielded 3614 kg ha^-1.  The six increased oleic acid lines averaged a 59 % increase in oleic acid and 44 % decrease in linolenic acid over the two commercial checks.  In addition, fuel properties: iodine value, peroxide value, and induction period were used to evaluate the two increased oleic lines with the highest oleic acid content (TN07-93RR and TN07-96RR) and the two commercial checks (AG3906 and AG4103). TN07-93RR and TN07-96RR were determined as the most desirable for biodiesel fuel, based on their fatty acid profile and fuel properties. AG3906 and AG4103 were deemed too high in undesirable polyunsaturated fatty acid content. As a result of high polyunsaturated fatty acid content, AG3906 and AG4103 had high iodine values (IV) and low oxidative stability and were unsatisfactory with regard to these properties according to the European biodiesel standard, EN 14214. All four were considered satisfactory with regard to the properties measured in this study according to the less stringent American biodiesel standard, ASTM D6751.