Context. In the breeding of oilseed Brassica crops for human consumption and animal feed, the main objective is the expansion of commercial varieties with low erucic acid, low glucosinolates, and high oleic acid content. Indian cultivars are high in erucic acid and glucosinolates.

Aims. This study examined variation among species and genotypes of Brassica for early screening potential in breeding programs for enhanced oil quality of rapeseed mustard.

Methods. Seeds of 165 Brassica genotypes including exotic and indigenous collections from India were analysed for oil content, fatty acid composition of seed oil, and glucosinolate content in seed meal. Species represented were B. juncea (159 genotypes), B. rapa (2), B. napus (2), B. carinata (1) and Eruca sativa (1). Correlation, principal component and cluster analyses were performed.

Key results. Substantial genetic variability was detected among genotypes for all studied traits. Oil content ranged from 32% to 45%. Oleic (11.93–54.13%), linoleic (13.33–35.85%), linolenic (3.42–20.77%) and erucic (0–50.70%) acids were the dominant fatty acids. Erucic acid had a significant and negative association with oleic, linoleic, linolenic and eicosenoic acids. Glucosinolate content varied from 7.32 to 282.17 μmol/g in the defatted meal. The first two principal components accounted for 48.10% of cumulative variation. Genotypes were grouped into five major clusters. Genotypes of one cluster had high oleic acid (46.73%) and low erucic acid (1.72%).

Conclusions. Five promising genotypes were found with low glucosinolate (<30 μmol/g defatted meal) and low erucic acid (<2%) content (i.e. ‘00’ characteristics).

Implications. The inherent variation for seed oil quality traits across assessed Brassica genotypes suggests their potential for application in future breeding operations.