GAS CHROMATOGRAPHIC-MASS SPECTROMETRIC IDENTIFICATIONS OF HYDROCARBONS AND FATTY ACIDS OF PLANTAGO OVATA SEEDS

Gas chromatography and combined gas chromatography and mass spectrometry have been used to study the distribution of fatty acids and hydrocarbons in the seeds of Plantago ovata. The occurrence in the seed coat of the low molecular weight hydrocarbons (C16-C19) with a significant percentage of an even carbon-numbered hydrocarbon (anteiso-C18; 10·1 per cent) were unusual features in relation to earlier reports on plant hydrocarbons. The seed coat of P. ovata showed mainly linoleic, oleic, and palmitic acid in decreasing concentrations while the seed itself did not contain an appreciable amount of fatty acids. The results rule out a simple precursor-product relationship between fatty acids and hydrocarbons as the likely pathway to explain the biogenesis of all the hydrocarbons. © 1970.