EVALUATION OF OILSEED RADISH ( Raphanus sativus L. var. oleiformis Pers.) OIL AS A POTENTIAL COMPONENT OF BIOFUELS

ABSTRACT The growing interest in alternative fuels based on plant oils has led to the search for new plant species. Given this, during 2015–2020, oil from 12 varieties of oilseed radish was studied using standard research protocols. The average content of the dominant fatty acids in the oils studied was: [cis-9] oleic (C 18:1) 33.95% (Cv = 14.2%), [cis-9,12] linoleic (C 18:2) 16.20% (Cv = 20.8%), [cis-13] erucic (C 22:1) 15.18% (Cv = 17.9%), [cis-9, 12, 15] α-linolenic (C 18:3) 13.33% (Cv = 18.5%) and palmitic (C 16:0) 5.42% (Cv = 18.5%), with a monounsaturated fatty acid content of 59.69% and a ratio of polyunsaturated/monounsaturated fatty acids of 0.508. The studied varieties were ranked in the order of increasing suitability as a component of biofuels: ‘Zhuravka’ < ‘Raiduha’ < ‘Lybid’ < ‘Olga’ < ‘Iveya’ < ‘Ramonta’ < ‘Alpha’ < ‘Tambovchanka’ < ‘Fakel’ < ‘Snizhana’ < ‘Sabina’ < ‘Nika’. The technological suitability of oil from the ‘Zhuravka’ variety was confirmed based on analysis of its physicochemical parameters when subjected to polymerization (at 280 °C) and oxypolymerization (at 120 and 150 °C). Under these conditions the basic parameters of the oil varied within the technological limits that determine its suitability for thermodynamic combustion processes in systems with controlled pressure and temperature.