Fatty acid composition of oils of some edible seeds of wild plants

Abstract

The fatty acid composition of the oil obtained from the edible seeds of some wild fruits and plants was determined by gas-liquid chromatography. The 5 samples investigated were (i) Sclerocarya caffra, (ii) Bauhinia esculenta, (iii) Ricinodendron rautanenii, (iv) Trichilia emetica, and (v) Adansonia digitata. Although the fatty acid contents of the 5 oils differ widely, the oils of (ii), (iii) and (v) are good sources of linoleic acid. The oil of (i) contains 70% oleic acid, while the oil of (iv) is the only one containing a small % of linolenic acid (1% of the total acids). A significant amount of 2 unidentified fatty acids is present in the oil of (iii).