Fatty acid composition of seed oils of Mediterranean herbaceous species

Abstract

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 áspera) were partially hydrolyzed, and contained free fatty acids. Arctium tomentosum seed oil and, to a lesser extent, Smilax áspera seed oil, showed a trans absorption band in their IR spectra. Small quantities of waxes were present in Pulicaria dysenterica and Silybum 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 Arctium 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.