DOI: 10.5061/dryad.3ffbg79zw
title: Varietal differences in yield and fatty acid composition of purslane in greenhouse conditions

description: Purslane (Portulaca oleracea L.) is a leafy green, distinguished by its
 elevated α-linolenic acid (ALA) content. Although cultivated commercially
 in parts of Asia, Europe, and Mexico, purslane is often treated as a weed
 among conventional farmers. Greenhouse production of purslane is essential
 to ensure a year-round supply, yet varietal research has been limited. We
 evaluated five commercially available purslane varieties (‘Red Gruner
 Microgreen Seed’, ‘Green Purslane’, ‘Scarlet’, ‘French Green Leaf’, and
 ‘Heirloom Verdolaga’) for growth, biomass, and fatty acid profiles under
 greenhouse conditions. We had 3 replications of each treatment (variety).
 Each replication was grown in a separate tray. Harvest occurred 52 days
 after seeding. Dry biomass was quantified from ten aboveground samples per
 replication. Plant height and diameter (measured every three days) were
 integrated into a z-score growth index to assess temporal growth dynamics.
 For fatty acid profiling, the above-ground tissue of three plants per
 replication (nine per treatment) was harvested, shredded, and pooled to
 obtain one composite sample per treatment. Samples were immediately frozen
 and ground to a fine powder using a mortar and pestle prior to analysis.
 The fatty acid content of each variety was analyzed externally by Creative
 Proteomics (Shirley, NY, USA) using their standard GC-FID protocol:
 samples were extracted using a modified Folch method. This dataset
 includes dry weight, z-score, and fatty acid profile data.
description: # Varietal differences in yield and fatty acid composition of purslane in
 greenhouse conditions Dataset DOI:
 [10.5061/dryad.3ffbg79zw](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.3ffbg79zw) ##
 Description of the data and file structure The datsdrt comprises three
 files related to a greenhouse experiment on purslane variety and their
 yield performance and fatty acid profile. The experiment was conducted in
 2024 and 2025 at the Plant Growth Center of Montana State University. ###
 Files and variables For all 3 files, "R" stands for purslane
 variety "Red Gruner," "S" for "Heirloom
 Verdolaga" (by breeder Survival Garden), "T" for
 "Scarlet," "F" for "French Green," and
 "E" for "Green." #### File: Height_Diameter.sav
 **Description:** SPSS data file containing repeated vegetative growth
 measurements. Measurements were collected every three days across the
 growing period for five varieties, with three biological replications per
 variety at each sampling date. Variable definitions: * **Variety**
 (string): Variety identifier (R = ‘Red Gruner’, S = ‘Heirloom Verdolaga’,
 T = ‘Scarlet’, F = ‘French Green’, E = ‘Green’). * **Treatment**
 (numeric): Replication identifier (1–3), representing one of three
 independently measured samples per variety at each sampling date. *
 **DAS** (numeric): Days after sowing; measurements were taken at 3-day
 intervals. * **Diameter** (numeric, mm): Plant diameter measured as the
 span of the apical meristem leaves using a digital caliper. * **Height**
 (numeric, mm): Plant height measured from the substrate surface to the
 apical bud. * **Z_Diam** (numeric): Standardized z-score of plant diameter
 calculated across all observations (varieties × dates × replications). *
 **Z_Height** (numeric): Standardized z-score of plant height calculated
 across all observations. * **Z** (numeric): Composite, dimensionless
 growth index calculated as the mean of Z_Diam and Z_Height. #### File:
 Biomass.sav **Description:** SPSS data file containing above-ground dry
 biomass measurements of purslane (*Portulaca oleracea*) grown under
 greenhouse conditions. Biomass was assessed for five varieties using three
 independent replications per variety, with ten plants sampled per
 replication. Variable definitions: * **Variety** (string): Variety
 identifier (R = ‘Red Gruner’, S = ‘Heirloom Verdolaga’, T = ‘Scarlet’, F =
 ‘French Green’, E = ‘Green’). * **Replication** (numeric): Replication
 identifier (1–3), representing independent experimental units per variety.
 * **Plant** (numeric): Plant identifier (1–10) within each replication. *
 **Biomassg** (numeric, g): Above-ground dry biomass per plant, measured in
 grams. #### File: FA_Profile.sav **Description:** SPSS data file
 containing fatty acid composition data of five purslane varieties. Fatty
 acid concentrations are reported for one composite sample per variety,
 with each sample consisting of pooled above-ground tissue from nine plants
 (three plants per replication). Fatty acid concentrations are expressed as
 micrograms per milligram of fresh tissue (µg mg⁻¹). Variable definitions:
 * **FA** (string): Fatty acid name or identifier. * **R** (numeric, µg
 mg⁻¹): Fatty acid concentration for variety ‘Red Gruner’. * **S**
 (numeric, µg mg⁻¹): Fatty acid concentration for variety ‘Heirloom
 Verdolaga’. * **T** (numeric, µg mg⁻¹): Fatty acid concentration for
 variety ‘Scarlet’. * **F** (numeric, µg mg⁻¹): Fatty acid concentration
 for variety ‘French Green’. * **E** (numeric, µg mg⁻¹): Fatty acid
 concentration for variety ‘Green’. ## Code/software SPSS 20 (IBM Corp.,
 Armonk, NY) or later version. ## Access information Other publicly
 accessible locations of the data: * N/A Data was derived from the
 following sources: * Measurement spreadsheets in Excel