Abstract

Akleshwar Mathur and M. R. K. Sherwani

The phytochemical composition of four seed oils belonging to four different lesser known botanical families have been studied. All the seeds were collected from semi arid zone of Rajasthan and studied for their physico chemical characteristics and fatty acid composition. The general characteristics of plants and seeds1-4 are given in table 1 and physicochemical properties in table 2. The presence of any unusual component was ruled out on the basis of UR, IR and TLC techniques. All the species reported were found to contain high percentage of unsaturated acids. The combined unsaturated acids were found in the range of 59.20 to 94.59 percent. Oleic acid was found in all the species. The linoleic acid was reported as a major component in sp. 3 and 4 as 55.89 and 43.63 percent respectively. The combined contents of linolenic and linolenic acids (PUFA) ranges between 40.80 to 83.7%. Palmitic and steric acids were major components with traces of myristic, arachidic and behenic.

Chemical analysis of seeds oil; Semi arid zone

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