Oil content and fatty acid composition of seeds of some Lithuanian wild crucifer species
¹Department of Crop Science and Animal Husbandry. Lithuanian University of Agriculture,Studentų 11, Akademija, Kaunas distr. Lt-53067 Lithuania; e-mail: nijole.petraityte@delfi.lt
²Laboratory of economic botany. Institute of Botany. Zaliuju Ezeru g. 49,Lt-08406, Vilnius, Lithuania
Abstract:
Oil content and fatty acid composition were investigated in the following wild crucifer species during 2008: Nineteen samples of fanweed (Thlaspi arvense L.), eight samples of flixweed (Descurainia sophia (L.) Webb ex Prantl), 17 samples of wallflower mustard (Erysimum cheiranthoides L.), one sample of sea rocket (Cakile baltica Jord. ex Pobed.) and two samples of garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata (M. Bieb.) Cavara et Grande). The greatest amount of oil was found in seeds of flixweed (32.2%) and wallflower mustard (30.6%). Seeds of garlic mustard contained the least amount of oil (15.8%). Fatty acids were dominated by unsaturated acids (oleic, linoleic and linolenic) in flixweed (71.4%), wallflower mustard (63.5%) and sea rocket (62.7%), by erucic acid in garlic mustard (49.3%) and fanweed (35.6%) seed oil. The seed oil of some investigated wild crucifer species could be suitable both for human consumption and industrial purposes.
Key words:
Brassicaceae, erucic acid, unsaturated fatty acids, variation