Lactobacillic and methyl-branched olefinic acids in Byrsocarpus coccineus seed oil

Abstract

A detailed investigation of the seed oil of Byrsocarpus coccineus Schum. and Thonn. has disclosed cis-11,12-methyleneoctadecanoic (lactobacillic) (13%) and two branched octadecenoic acids (0.1%). Other fatty acids in the oil are those normally associated with seed lipids except for an unusually high proportion (12%) of cis-11-octadecenoic acid. Lactobacillic acid has long been known as a constituent of certain bacterial lipids, but this is the first report of its presence in a seed oil. The branched olefinic acids have not heretofore been found to occur in plants. © 1979 American Oil Chemists' Society.