Acer triflorum: A maple species that serves as a resource for nervonic acid and that has an ultralow erucic acid content

Abstract In this experiment, pulse NMR and gas chromatography were used to determine the seed oil content and fatty acid composition of Acer triflorum. In addition, the morphological characteristics of samaras and seeds were measured by conventional methods. The results showed that the average oil content of the tested seeds was 33.44 ± 0.098% and revealed the presence of 16 fatty acids, of which six constituted 93.57% of the total oil cocent: linoleic acid, oleic acid, docosadienoic acid, peanutenedioic acid, palmitic acid and nervonic acid. In particular, the erucic acid content was less than 1%. Fifteen morphological indexes were measured and used as a reference for breeding Acer triflorum. This is the first study to investigate the seed oil content and fatty acid composition of Acer triflorum.