The acetylenic acid in Comandra pallida and Osyris alba seed oils

Abstract

Gas-liquid chromatographic (GLC) analyses are reported for fatty acid methyl esters from seed oils of two previously unreported species of Santalaceae, Comandra pallida A. DC. and Osyris alba L. The major component in each (43 and 57%, respectively) is an enynoic acid, probably trans-11-octadecen-9-ynoic (ximenynic) acid which has been found in seed oils of other members of this family. Equivalent chain lengths by GLC analysis and infrared and ultraviolet spectra agree with those obtained by our analyses of Ximenia americana L., in which ximenynic acid is known to occur. The spectral data also agree with those in literature reports on ximenynic acid. The positions of unsaturation have, however, not been rigorously established for the two species newly reported. © 1963 The American Oil Chemists' Society.