| Fatty acid composition of seed
oils of Mediterranean herbaceous species. (English)
E. Ucciani, G. Mallet, J. Gamisans and M. Gruber.
45(3),1994, 107-112
|
| In the context of research into the lipids of higher plant, the
fatty acid composition of eleven species is reported. These species belong
to nine families, and most of them are common in the Mediterranean flora.
Oils from some plants (Arctium tomentosum, Hypericum perforatum, Linaria
vulgaris, Pulicaria dysenterica, Smilax aspera) were partially hydrolyzed,
and contained free fatty acids. Arctium tomentosum seed oil and, to a lesser
extent, Smilax aspera seed oil, showed a trans absorption band in their
IR spectra. Small quantities of waxes were present in Pulicaria dysenterica
and Sylibum marianum seed oil. The fatty acid composition of the oils from
these plants approaches levels found in food oils as well as industrial
oils. Three species showed high levels of their predominant fatty acid:
Alliaria petiolata (erucic acid, 41.5 %), Linaria vulgaris and Pulicaria
dysenterica (linoleic acid, 70 and 72 % respectively). In the seed oil
of Arcticum tomentosum four fatty acids were not identified: one of them
could be 3(t), 9(c), 12(c)-octadecatrienoic acid. But the most complex
composition was that of Atriplex hortensis oil, which contained thirty
three fatty acids, of which fifteen were unknown. |
