gamma-Linolenic and stearidonic acids in Mongolian Boraginaceae

Seeds of nine Central Asian species of Boraginaceae were investigated for the first time for their oil content and for the fatty acid composition of their seed oils by capillary gas chromatography. Levels of gamma-linolenic acid ranged from 6.6 to 13.0%, and levels of stearidonic acid ranged from 2.4 to 21.4% of total seed fatty acids. The seed oil of Hackelia deflexa exhibited the highest stearidonic acid content (21.4%) that has been found so far in nature. Other high contents of this fatty acid were in three Lappula species (17.2 to 18.1%). Seed oils of Cynoglossum divaricatum and Amblynotus rupestris contain considerable amounts of cis-11-eicosenoic (5.3 to 5.8%) and cis-13-docosenoic acid (7.0 to 9.7%) besides gamma-linolenic (10.2 to 13.0%) and stearidonic acid (2.4 to 6.5%), which distinguish these oils from those of other Boraginaceae genera.