AC Pennant, AC Base and Andante yellow condiment mustard cultivars

Yellow condiment mustard (Sinapis alba L.) occupies about 50% of the total acreage of condiment mustard grown in western Canada. Breeding efforts at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada in Saskatoon (AAFC) from 1987 to 2001 resulted in the registration of three new cultivars. AC Pennant, AC Base and Andante had 8, 7 and 6% higher grain yield, respectively, than the check cultivar Ochre, on average over 28 location years in 3 yr of condiment mustard Co-op tests 1999–2001. All three cultivars had similar maturity and plant height to Ochre. Andante had lower fixed oil than Ochre while AC Base had lower protein content. Andante had much greater seed weight than Ochre. AC Pennant had greater seed mucilage content than Ochre, while the seed mucilage content of Andante was highly significantly improved over Ochre (by about 50%). The seed colour of AC Base and Andante was a darker yellow than that of Ochre (a high negative number indicates a brighter yellow colour). Seed glucosinolate and chlorophyll content of AC Pennant, AC Base and Andante were not different from Ochre. Since its registration in 2002, Andante has become the predominant condiment yellow mustard cultivar in western Canada because of its increased grain yield and superior seed quality. AC Pennant has been the official check cultivar since 2002. All three cultivars are well adapted to the mustard growing areas of the Canadian prairies. Key words: Sinapis alba L., cultivar descriptions, grain yield, seed quality