On-line chemical database for new crop seeds

Since the 1950s, a database of the chemical composition of seeds, collected throughout the world, has been generated at the National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research. Information contained in the database is primarily selected chemical and physical properties of seed oils. Over more than 38 years, 15,738 accessions of 7,924 species of 2,339 genera from 225 families were collected and analyzed. This database is now accessible on the Internet at http://www.ncaur.usda.gov/nc/ncdb/search.html.ssi. This paper gives an overview of the database, describes the information available, and illustrates how to do searches.