First Spanish-Type High-Oleic-Acid Groundnut Variety Released in India

By: Dr. Janila Pasupuleti.

Cluster Leader, Crop Breeding. Principal Scientist, Groundnut Breeding. International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT)

Dr. Pasupuleti, an Indian national, has a PhD from the Indian Agricultural Research Institute-New Delhi and has 21 years of work experience in oilseed crops. She has led nine-year multi-institutional research resulting in the commercialization of the first high-oleic-acid groundnut varieties in India. She has established a demand-led groundnut breeding and testing pipeline that uses cutting-edge tools and technologies in collaboration with multi-disciplinary teams within and outside ICRISAT. She established the Groundnut Network Group-Asia (GNG-A) and has promoted a global peanut research partnership.

High-oleic-acid (HOA) groundnut offers increased shelf-life benefits to the food processing industry, health benefits to consumers, and increased profitability for farmers through premium prices. The oleic acid concentration in the new variety of groundnut is 80+2%, versus 45-50% in regular groundnut.

The International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) has developed HOA groundnut in Spanish and Virginia types suitable for cultivation in Asia and Africa. The first HOA varieties released in India, Girnar 4 (ICGV 15083) and Girnar 5 (ICGV 15090), are Virginia types and were dedicated to the nation by the Prime Minister of India.

In 2022, the first Spanish-type HOA variety was released in India; it recorded 30-33% higher pod yield over the national checks. In partnership with national programs, three HOA varieties were released in India, two in partnership with the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) – Directorate of Groundnut Research, and one in partnership with Junagadh Agricultural University. The HOA varieties are in testing for release in Myanmar, Bangladesh, New Zealand and South Africa, and the HOA lines have been shared with ten countries so far.

According to a study[1] by Wang and Hu (2017), the consumption of oleic-acid-rich diets may lower total and low-density-lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol and increase high-density-lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, therefore decreasing the total cholesterol to HDL ratio, thus reducing the cardiovascular disease risk factors. The kernels of HOA groundnut varieties have 80+2% oleic acid, similar to olive oil, and 3-4% less palmitic acid compared to ordinary groundnut, which has 48% oleic and 13-14% palmitic acid. HOA groundnut and its products have 5–10 times longer shelf life than normal groundnut, making it beneficial for oil, food and processing industries.

The HOA lines were developed at ICRISAT using Sun Oleic 95R as donor parent from the USA, and marker-assisted selection (MAS) and marker-assisted backcrossing (MABC) approaches were employed to select the two mutant alleles of FAD2A and FAD2B. Robust non-destructive phenotyping using near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy (NIRS) enables the selection of HOA lines in the breeding program. Speed breeding in glass houses enables it to take three generations in a year. These innovations enabled ICRISAT to deliver the HOA groundnut varieties in a record time of nine years (2011-2019).

Collaboration with national partners in the design, testing and delivery has resulted in success in a short period, as well as achieving the metrics. Partnership with the industry helped us to get sensory and product suitability feedback so that the right product is commercialized. Partnership with public and private seed producers helped us to produce genetically pure HOA seed, which is key to ensuring high commodity purity. Donor engagement was important in sustaining financial assistance from 2011 to 2018.

Food industries and industries making ready-to-use therapeutic foods (RUTF) and food supplements prefer HOA groundnut in their food products and are looking at the opportunities to source such groundnut locally. The premium price of the HOA groundnut thus contributes to enhanced profitability for farmers and all stakeholders in the HOA groundnut value chain. Premium price for HOA groundnut encourages farmers and aggregators to adopt good crop production, drying and storage practices that contribute to reducing aflatoxin contamination, which is a food safety concern and trade barrier.

The food industries sourcing HOA groundnut expect 95-98% purity in the commodity. This is expected to promote seed systems to ensure the supply of seeds of HOA varieties with the highest genetic purity to ensure high standards of the commodity. Thus, a more organized sustainable seed supply chain with public and private seed agencies is expected to emerge for HOA peanuts in India. A notable interest in HOA groundnut varieties has already been perceived by the seed agencies, and food processing industries in India and Africa are keen to work with ICRISAT and our partners to bring HOA varieties into the supply chain in a fast-track mode.

Besides significant economic benefits to HOA groundnut producers and value chain actors, at least two other outcomes are evident from the synergies: the development of seed systems to ensure genetic purity and the production of food-safe groundnut produce.

Photos courtesy of ICRISAT.

Table 1: Pod yield and other traits of the three commercialized high-oleic-acid groundnut varieties in India.

*Source: Release proposals

[1] Wang, D. D., & Hu, F. B. (2017). Dietary Fat and Risk of Cardiovascular Disease: Recent Controversies and Advances. Annual Review of Nutrition, 37, 423–446. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-nutr-071816-064614