Abstract:
Vernonia galamensis is a new potential industrial crop with very high content of vernolic acid in the seed oil. The species is known to naturally grow as a weed in fields or in woodlands under a wide range of agroecological conditions of Africa. In order to study the existing variability in Ethiopia, germplasm collection was carried out. Vernonia grows wild in various ecosystems. Ten regions were explored from North, South, East, Southeast, Southwest and Central Ethiopia. A diverse range of habitats having different altitudes and ecological conditions was explored. The main objective of this paper was to review the genetic diversity of Vernonia crop through morphological, seed oil content and fatty acid for possible exploitation as an industrial oil crop. Vernonia galamensis is a good source of seed oil rich in epoxy acid, which can be used to manufacture plastic formulations, protective coatings, and other products. Seed from a natural stand in Ethiopia contained 31% epoxy acid.
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