Camelina sativa: an ancient crop worthy of re-evaluation

Camelina sativa (L.) Crantz is an annual plant belonging to the Brassicaceae family. It is native to Europe and central Asia and archaeological remains dated back the beginning of cultivation to 4000 B.C. The interest in this species is related to good agronomic performances in marginal areas and low fertilization and irrigation requirements. The seeds are a valuable source of oil (35-40%), characterized by a high percentage of both polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA > 50 %), and proteins (24-30%). The analysis of seed composition of 17 varieties, with different geographic origin, grown in northern Italy allowed to obtain information about the variation existing within this subset of material. The main biochemical seed traits (oil, proteins and some secondary compounds) were quantified. The Principal Component Analysis (PCA) of collected data allowed to arrange the 17 varieties in three subgroups corresponding to different potentialities toward oil production, animal feed or other utilizations. The addition of defatted meal in livestock rations was evaluated by studying the relationships among protein content and two antinutritional compounds (trypsin inhibitors and condensate tannins) able to affect the protein digestibility. The defatted meal of 4 varieties grown for four consecutive years (2016 - 2019) were analysed. Overall, the nutritional quality of camelina meal appeared mainly influenced by the genotype. A weak relationship (p < 0.06) between in vitro digestibility and trypsin inhibitors was recorded. All these results confirm that camelina is a promising alternative crop with great potential applications in several fields.