Figure 3

Content and composition of fatty acids in the seeds of grain legumes and their closest wild relatives. (A) Bisector plots representing the absolute contents of total oils, saturated fatty acids (SFAs), monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs) and polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) in grain legumes plotted against the contents in their closest wild relatives. Data points above the dotted line (y = x) indicate that grain legumes contained higher contents than their wild relatives. Data points show means ± SE (n ≥ 4) (the small standard errors are not appreciable in the figure for most of the species). No general pattern of change was found for FA following domestication (TotalOil F_{domestication} = 1.274, P = 0.288; SFAs F_{domestication} = 0.199, P = 0.666; MUFAs F_{domestication} = 2.43, P = 0.153; PUFAs F_{domestication} = 0.011, P = 0.920; two-way ANOVA). (B) Relative abundances of the main seed fatty acids (FAs) in grain legumes compared to their closest wild relatives (log₁₀ ratios), showing which fatty acids increased (bars above zero) and which decreased (bars below zero) following domestication. FAs shown are: myristic acid (C14:0), palmitic acid (C16:0), stearic acid (C18:0), oleic acid (C18:1), linoleic acid (C18:2), linolenic acid (C18:3), arachidic acid (C20:0) and behenic acid (C22:0). Asterisks indicate significant differences between grain legumes and their wild relatives (one-way ANOVA, P < 0.05).