Insight into some oilseed crops’ productivity evaluation under different agroclimatic locations in Egypt

Due to significant annual population growth, Egypt is facing a severe shortage of edible oil production, which is inadequate to meet the country’s needs. Introducing a new source of oil suitable for Egyptian conditions is one of the suggested solutions to this issue. This study aimed to evaluate the productivity of certain oilseed crops (chia, amaranth, and quinoa) across different geographical locations in Egypt. Three oilseed crops Chia (Salvia hispanica), Amaranth (Amaranthus cruentus), and Quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa Wild) were cultivated in four distinct locations in Egypt (El Sharkia, Giza, El Minia, and Aswan). Plant growth, yield, and chemical composition were assessed. The results indicated that El Sharkia governorate is the most favorable location for achieving the highest mean values of plant height and seed yield for chia by 7.62%, 8.57%, and 10.48%; for amaranth by 4.28%, 8.57%, and 14.28%; and for quinoa by 3.78%, 5.19%, and 12.7% compared to Giza, El Minia, and Aswan governorates, respectively. Under El Minia conditions, chia and quinoa plants exhibited the highest total available carbohydrate percentages (22.10% and 75.3%, respectively) and available nitrogen (5.14% and 2.4%, respectively), while amaranth plants had the highest percentage of total accessible carbohydrates in El Sharkia (66.5%). Furthermore, the highest fixed oil percentage in chia seeds was observed in Giza (29.55%). Additionally, chia and quinoa plants grown under El Sharkia conditions exhibited the highest values for all fatty acid components found in the produced oil. Meanwhile, Giza and El Minia positively influenced the total fatty acids detected in amaranth oil. Thus, it can be concluded that chia, amaranth, and quinoa could be cultivated across various geographical locations in Egypt for different purposes.