Garden cress (Lepidium sativum L.) as a leafy vegetable is a fast growing annual herb, native to west Asia and widely cultivated throughout the world. Its seed oil had been shown that has potential as a raw material for biodiesel production. Variation of 81 garden cress genotypes were studied based on several traits to determine the most important traits which influence seed oil as well as biomass production in garden cress. The genotypes were grown in the replicated simple lattice design with four replications across two growing seasons. Results indicated that large and significant differences among accessions were revealed for the majority of traits. The average of oil content of the seeds was about 25%, mainly composed of polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fatty acids. The coefficient of variation varied from 18% in number of seeds per pod to 53% in biomass yield. Some traits including days to initiation of flowering, number of pods per lateral branches and number of pods per plant were the most important traits contributing to seed yield and biomass production. This study showed that seed oil of garden cress in the studied genotypes have the potential to supplement petroleum-based diesel. The kinematic viscosity, gross heat value and other fuel properties were within the limits for biodiesel specified standards. Our findings indicates that breeding programs should be based on the mentioned traits for improvement of garden cress biomass and seed yield for industrial proposes.
