Fatty acid compositions of seed oils of sevenhibiscus species of malvaceae

Abstract

The seeds of sevenHibiscus (Malvaceae) species, viz.,H. surattensis, H. vitifolius, H. hirtus, H. punctatus, H. zeylanicus, H. micranthus andH. solandra, contained 13–17% oil. Linoleic acid predominated (43.9–67.6%) in the component fatty acids of all the oils, followed by palmitic (15.1–30.1%) and oleic acids (5.9–24.8%), while malvalic, sterculic, dihydrosterculic and epoxy acids were present in small concentrations (1.7–8.4, 0.6–3.9, trace-2.1, trace-0.5%, respectively).