Vernolic and Cyclopropenoid Fatty Acids in Plectranthus mollis Syn. Plenctranthus incanus, Link, Seed Oil: A Rich Source of Oil

Abstract

The seeds of Plectranthus mollis contain 40.2% of fatty oil. The unusual fatty acids are vernolic (6.1%), malvalic (2.3%), and sterculic (3.2%). The other normal fatty acids are palmitic (7.2%), stearic (13.6%), oleic (21.1%), and linoleic (46.5%). The seed oil responded to Halphen and picric acid tests, indicating the presence of cyclopropenoid and epoxy fatty acid, respectively. The IR of oil and its methyl esters showed characteristic bands at 1010 cm^-1 and 825 cm^-1 for cyclopropenoid and epoxy functional groups respectively. The oxygenated and non-oxygenated fatty acids were obtained after acetolysis and saponification of the oil. The GLC analysis of non-oxygenated fatty acids was carried out. This paper contains the first report of fatty acid composition of Plectranthus mollis seed oil.