Fatty acids profile of selected Artemisia spp. plants: Health promotion

Fatty acids have very important biological functions, including as a source of energy and as components of biological membranes. The dietary intake of fatty acids is very important because many degenerative diseases such as cardiovascular diseases are associated with fatty acids. Centaurea belong to the family Asteraceae, and there are more than 500–600 species of this genus worldwide [1]. In Turkey, there are about 179 Centaurea species. Many species of the genus are endemic to Turkey, and the endemism ratio is 61%. [2]. Centaurea species have attractive flowers and have been used in important medicinal applications in many countries. For example, C. drabifolia, C. pulchella, C. depressa, and C. solsititialis are used to treat various ailments such as abscesses, hemorrhoids, and the common cold in Anatolian folk medicine. Previous studies have shown differences in the fatty acid compositions of some Centaurea species, such as C. carduiformis [3], C. patula and C. pulchella [4], C. kotschyi var. persica [5], C. amanicola [6], and C. depressa [7]. In the present study, the fatty acid compositions of six Centaurea species from the Central Anatolia region of Turkey were examined by gas chromatography. The results can be used to determine the usefulness of these plants as new sources of fatty acids. Twenty different fatty acids with chain lengths between C8 to C20 were identified in the total fatty acid content of the studied Centaurea oils (Table 1). Linoleic acid (18:2 6) was the major fatty acid in all the studied Centaurea oils. Among the Centaurea oils, the levels of this fatty acid ranged from 29.15% in C. virgata to 55.27% in C. kotschyi var. kotschyi. Generally, oleic (18:1 9), palmitic (16:0), and -linolenic acid (18:3 3) were the other predominant fatty acids in the studied species. Similar results have been obtained for some other Centaurea species, including C. balsamita and C. patula [3, 4]. PUFAs are beneficial for decreasing LDL levels and aiding brain development [8]. Therefore, the content of PUFAs is an important indicator of the nutritional value of an oil. PUFAs accounted for 43.90% of the total fatty acids in C. triumfettii and 60.52% in C. kotschyi var. kotschyi oils (Table 1). Among the PUFAs, linoleic and -linolenic acid are called essential fatty acids because they are not synthesized in the human body. The studied Centaurea species are a source of essential fatty acids, and their high essential fatty acids contents could make the Centaurea oils important for a variety of health applications. The -linolenic acid (18:3 3) content of C. pterocaula oil was 16.57%, and -linolenic acid (18:3 6) was found in small quantities in all the Centaurea species. The results of the present study agree with earlier studies in that linoleic and -linolenic acid were major PUFAs in Asteraceae or Centaurea species [3, 9]. Oleic acid is the main monounsaturated fatty acid (MUFA) in numerous plant oils, and because it is beneficial for decreasing LDL levels, it is a good fatty acid for consumption [10]. Oleic acid was identified as the major component of the MUFAs in all of the studied Centaurea species. The content of this fatty acid varied between 7.98% in C. solsititialis subsp. solsititialis and 28.47% in C. triumfettii. Other MUFAs present at high levels in the Centaurea oils were palmitoleic (16:1 7), myristoleic (14:1 5), pentadecenoic (15:1 6), heptadecenoic (17:1 8), and eicosenoic (20:1 9) acids. The fatty acid profiles obtained for the Centaurea oils in the present study agree with those from a previous study that found high levels of oleic acid [7]. SFAs are unhealthy because they increase the cholesterol level, and consumption of these fatty acids should be reduced for human health [11]. In the present study, SFAs accounted for 16.85% and 39.79% of the total fatty acids in the Centaurea oils. Palmitic acid was the major SFA, and its content varied from 11.89% in C. urvillei subsp. urvillei to 28.41% in C. virgata.

Linum is a member of the Linaceae family and includes about 200 species in the Mediterranean region, mild or subtropical regions of Asia Southwest, and North America [1–3], it is mainly centered in the Balkans and Anatolia [4]. Today, this plant is used mainly for its oil [5, 6], but in early times it was used by the Egyptians to make cloth and for flax spinning and weaaving. However, flax was utilized for medicinal purposes by the ancient Greeks and Romans. The production of linseed oil may have started thousands of years ago in central Anatolia. Linum spp. is native to Anatolia and flax seeds have been found at several Neolithic sites. The earliest historical documents concerning linseed oil mills are Ottoman tax records from 1500-I. [7]. The endemism percentage of Linum species in the flora of Turkey is 39.4% [3]. Similar studies have indicated that climatic conditions and geography of locations play a vital role in the synthesis of fatty acid composition, especially unsaturated fatty acid in vegetable oils. [8]. Flax oil is the richest plant source of linoleic and linolenic polyunsaturated fatty acids, which are essential for humans since they cannot be synthesized in the organism and must be ingested in food [9]. The fatty acid composition of linseed oil is dominated by C18:0 (stearic), C16:0 (palmitic) C18:1 (oleic) C18:2 (linoleic, 16% of oil), and C18:3 (linolenic, 50% of oil) fatty acids [10, 11]. Green and Marshall [12] stated that significant variation in seed weight, oil content, and fatty acid composition was found both among and within varieties in a diverse collection of 214 L. usitatissimum accessions. Oleic acid and linolenic acid varied between 13.3 and 25.2% and 45.5 and 64.2%, respectively in the study. In this study, eight L. hirsutum L., which were collected from different areas in Southeastern of Turkey, and two L. usitatissimum local populations were analyzed to determine the fatty acid composition of their seed oils (Table 1). Significant variation in fatty acid composition was found both among and within species in Linum samples. Fourteen fatty acids were completely identified and quantitated. However, γ-linolenic was not found in samples of L. hirsutum. Saturated fatty acids comprised about 25.01% for L. hirsutum and 11.37% for L. usitatissimum of the total fatty acids. Polyunsaturated fatty acids were predominant in all samples (67.02% for L. hirsutum and 65.10% for L. usitatissimum). Monounsaturated fatty acids were 6.74% for L. hirsutum and 22.93% for L. usitatissimum. While the dominant fatty acids of wild population were linoleic (38.76%), α-linolenic (28.27%), and palmitic acid (20.47%), α-linolenic (48.66%), oleic (22.68%), and linoleic (16.29%) were predominant in local populations. Some of fatty acids found in local populations were myristic, oleic (18:1n9), margaric, and icosenoic acids, but only in very small quantities (< 0.1%) (Table 2). There were found wild populations (L. usitatissimum) differing from local populations (L. hirsutum) in the fatty acid profiles. The content of palmitic acid was 20.47% in wild populations, whereas it was 5.95% in local populations. Stearic acid (2.79%) in wild populations was lower than that of local populations (4.9%). Linoleic acid was 38.76% and 16.29% in L. hirsutum and L. usitatissimum, respectively. α-Linolenic acid was determined to be 28.27% for wild flaxseed and 48.66% for local cultivars. The percentage of α-linolenic and linoleic acids shows close negative correlation [13]. The fatty acid composition of wild populations (L. hirsutum) shows significant variation. Palmitic acid and stearic acid varied between 19.57–20.68% and 2.61–3.24%, respectively. The Derik/Mardin sample had the highest value for oleic acid (7.87%) but a low value for linoleic acid (5.97%). There was a strong complementarity between oleic and linoleic acids in the oil seeds as cited by [14]. The percentage of α-linolenic acid ranged from 25.45% to 31.02%, and the highest α-linolenic acid content was for Malatya. However, Malatya had higher latitute than the other collecting areas, and the linoleic and α-linolenic acid contents were increased at high latitude [15].

We studied the long-chain conversion of [U-13C]alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) and linoleic acid (LA) and responses of erythrocyte phospholipid composition to variation in the dietary ratios of 18:3n-3 (ALA) and 18:2n-6 (LA) for 12 weeks in 38 moderately hyperlipidemic men. Diets were enriched with either flaxseed oil (FXO; 17 g/day ALA, n=21) or sunflower oil (SO; 17 g/day LA, n=17). The FXO diet induced increases in phospholipid ALA (>3-fold), 20:5n-3 [eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), >2-fold], and 22:5n-3 [docosapentaenoic acid (DPA), 50%] but no change in 22:6n-3 [docosahexanoic acid (DHA)], LA, or 20:4n-6 [arachidonic acid (AA)]. The increases in EPA and DPA but not DHA were similar to those in subjects given the SO diet enriched with 3 g of EPA plus DHA from fish oil (n=19). The SO diet induced a small increase in LA but no change in AA. Long-chain conversion of [U-13C]ALA and [U-13C]LA, calculated from peak plasma 13C concentrations after simple modeling for tracer dilution in subsets from the FXO (n=6) and SO (n=5) diets, was similar but low for the two tracers (i.e., AA, 0.2%; EPA, 0.3%; and DPA, 0.02%) and varied directly with precursor concentrations and inversely with concentrations of fatty acids of the alternative series. [13C]DHA formation was very low (<0.01%) with no dietary influences.

Temporal evolution of fatty acid content in human milk of lactating mothers from the Philippines

Cardiolipin is a major mitochondrial membrane glycerophospholipid in the mammalian heart. In this study, the ability of the isolated intact rat heart to remodel cardiolipin and the mitochondrial enzyme activities that reacylate monolysocardiolipin to cardiolipin in vitro were characterized. Adult rat heart cardiolipin was found to contain primarily linoleic and oleic acids. Perfusion of the isolated intact rat heart in the Langendorff mode with various radioactive fatty acids, followed by analysis of radioactivity incorporated into cardiolipin and its immediate precursor phosphatidylglycerol, indicated that unsaturated fatty acids entered into cardiolipin mainly by deacylation followed by reacylation. The in vitro mitochondrial acylation of monolysocardiolipin to cardiolipin was coenzyme A-dependent with a pH optimum in the alkaline range. Significant activity was also present at physiological pH. With oleoyl-coenzyme A as substrate, the apparent K(m) for oleoyl-coenzyme A and monolysocardiolipin were 12.5 microm and 138.9 microm, respectively. With linoleoyl-coenzyme A as substrate, the apparent K(m) for linoleoyl-coenzyme A and monolysocardiolipin were 6.7 microm and 59.9 microm, respectively. Pre-incubation at 50 degrees C resulted in different profiles of enzyme inactivation for the two activities. Both activities were affected similarly by phospholipids, triacsin C, and various lipid binding proteins but were affected differently by various detergents and myristoyl-coenzyme A. [(3)H]cardiolipin was not formed from monolyso[(3)H]cardiolipin in the absence of acyl-coenzyme A. Monolysocardiolipin acyltransferase activities were observed in mitochondria prepared from various other rat tissues. In summary, the data suggest that the isolated intact rat heart has the ability to rapidly remodel cardiolipin and that rat heart mitochondria contain coenzyme A-dependent acyltransferase(s) for the acylation of monolysocardiolipin to cardiolipin. A simple and reproducible in vitro assay for the determination of acyl-coenzyme A- dependent monolysocardiolipin acyltransferase activity in mammalian tissues with exogenous monolysocardiolipin substrate is also presented.

Responses to oleic, linoleic and α-linolenic acids in high-carbohydrate, high-fat diet-induced metabolic syndrome in rats

The oil extracted from tamarillo (Cyphomandra betacea) seeds was analyzed for its essential fatty acid content. The analysis was performed using gas chromatography and the most abundant fatty acids in the tamarillo seed oil were linoleic (70.47%) and oleic acid (14.93%). Total polyunsaturated fatty acid in this seed oil was 72.20% (70.47% linoleic acid and 1.73% linolenic acid) making this seed oil a promising source of essential fatty acids for food, cosmetic and pharmaceutical applications.

ObjectivesThis study evaluated dietary intake and food sources of essential fatty acids in Korean adolescents.MethodsThis study was comprised of 3,932 adolescents (9–18 years) who participated in the 2016–2021 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys. Dietary intake and food sources of essential fatty acids, including alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), and linoleic acid (LA) were evaluated using data obtained from one-day 24-hour dietary recall. The proportions of adolescents consuming ALA, EPA + DHA, and LA above or below the adequate intake (AI) of the 2020 Dietary Reference Intakes for Koreans were calculated. All statistical analyses accounted for the complex sampling design effect and appropriate sample weights.ResultsThe mean intakes of ALA, EPA, DHA, and LA among Korean adolescents were 1.29 g/day, 69.6 mg/day, 166.0 mg/day, and 11.1 g/day, respectively. Boys had higher intakes of all essential fatty acids compared to girls. By age group, adolescents aged 15–18 years showed lower intakes of EPA and DHA compared to adolescents in younger age groups. The 9–11-year-old adolescents had lower intakes of ALA and LA than older adolescents. The proportions of adolescents who consumed more than AI were 35.7% for ALA, 30.4% for EPA + DHA, and 41.5% for LA. Adherence to the AI for ALA did not differ by sex or age group, although boys showed a lower adherence to the AI for EPA + DHA than girls. Major food sources for ALA and LA were plant-based oils, mayonnaise, pork, and eggs. Mackerel was the most significant contributor to EPA and DHA intake (EPA, 22.6%; DHA, 22.2%), followed by laver, squid, and anchovy.ConclusionsThe proportion of Korean adolescents who consumed EPA + DHA more than AI was low. Our findings highlight that nutrition education emphasizing an intake of essential fatty acids from healthy food sources is needed among Korean adolescents.

Bitter apple or tumba (Citrullus colocynthis L.) is a prostrate annual herb belonging to the Cucurbitaceae family. It is highly tolerant against multiple abiotic stresses like drought, heat, and soil salinity and can easily grow on very marginal soil, even on sand dunes in hot, arid regions. Tumba fruit is a fleshy berry 5–10 cm in diameter and of a pale yellow color at ripening. The tumba fruit used in this research was harvested from the ICAR-CIAH, Bikaner research farm. The seeds were separated, and their oil was extracted to analyze its physical characteristics and composition (phytochemical compounds, fatty acid profile, etc.). The seeds of the tumba fruit contained 23–25% golden-yellow-colored oil with a specific gravity of 0.92 g/mL. The extracted oil contained appreciable amounts of phytochemical (bioactive) compounds like phenolics (5.39 mg GAE/100 g), flavonoids (938 mg catechin eq./100 g), carotenoids (79.5 mg/kg), oryzanol (0.066%), and lignans (0.012%), along with 70–122 mg AAE/100 g total antioxidant activity (depending on the determination method). The results of fatty acid profiling carried out by GC-MS/MS demonstrated that tumba seed oil contained about 70% unsaturated fatty acids with more than 51% polyunsaturated fatty acids. It mainly contained linoleic acid (C18:2n6; 50.3%), followed by oleic acid (C18:1n9; 18.0%), stearic acid (C18:0; 15.2%), and palmitic acid (C16:0; 12.4%). Therefore, this oil can be considered as a very good source of essential fatty acids like omega-6 fatty acid (linoleic acid), whereas it contains a lower concentration of omega-3 fatty acids (α-linolenic acid) and hydroxy polyunsaturated fatty acids. In addition, it also contains some odd chain fatty acids like pentadecanoic and heptadecanoic acid (C15:0 and C17:0, respectively), which have recently been demonstrated to be bioactive compounds in reducing the risk of cardiometabolic diseases. The results of this study suggest that tumba seed oil contains several health-promoting bioactive compounds with nutraceutical properties; hence, it can be an excellent dietary source.

We hypothesized that the polyunsaturated fatty acids of the butterfly were probably derived from the diet and that there might be a great loss of body fat during metamorphosis. To substantiate these hypotheses, we analyzed the fatty acid composition and content of the diet, the larva, and the butterfly Morpho peleides. Both the diet and the tissues of the larva and butterfly had a high concentration of polyunsaturated fatty acids. In the diet, linolenic acid accounted for 19% and linoleic acid for 8% of total fatty acids. In the larva, almost 60% of the total fatty acids were polyunsaturated: linolenic acid predominated at 42% of total fatty acids, and linoleic acid was at 17%. In the butterfly, linolenic acid represented 36% and linoleic acid represented 11% of total fatty acids. The larva had a much higher total fatty acid content than the butterfly (20.2 vs. 6.9 mg). Our data indicate that the transformation from larva to butterfly during metamorphosis drastically decreased the total fatty acid content. There was bioenhancement of polyunsaturated fatty acids from the diet to the larva and butterfly. This polyunsaturation of membranes may have functional importance in providing membrane fluidity useful in flight.

To evaluate seasonal variation in fatty acid composition in broccoli, 12 commercial cultivars of broccoli were grown in spring and fall season at the field of NIHHS, and their floret, leaf and stem parts were used for the fatty acid composition analyses. Among 14 fatty acids detected in broccoli, linolenic, palmitic and linoleic acids were major fatty acids comprising more than 80% of total fatty acids in both the seasons and all the parts. Likewise, stearic and oleic acids were also present in considerable amount while remaining fatty acids; caproic, lauric, myristic, pentadecanoic, palmitoleic, heptadecanoic, arachidic, behenic and lignoceric acids showed their minor compositional ratio. Among the three parts, stem exhibited highest SFAs (49.681% in spring and 50.717% in fall season) compared to MUFA and PUFA, while highest compositional ratio of PUFAs were observed in leaves (62.588% in spring and 68.931% in fall season), which indicates leaves as a good source of health beneficial fatty acids. In contrast, floret part exhibited highest SFA (48.786%) and PUFA (57.518%) in spring and fall seasons, respectively. Major fatty acids; palmitic, linoleic and linolenic acid showed lowest cultivar dependent variation (below 10%) and leaf showed least variation in both the seasons compared to floret and stem. Our results suggest that all the fatty acids are significantly influenced by genotype of cultivars (C), plant parts (P) and growing seasons (S). Among the 14 fatty acids, myristic and palmitic acid showed highest positive or negative correlationship with oleic (r=<TEX>$0.912^{**}$</TEX>) and linolenic acid (r=-<TEX>$0.933^{**}$</TEX>), respectively. The most abundant fatty acid, linolenic acid, showed either negative or no correlation ship with other fatty acids while palmitic acid, a second major fatty acid, exhibited either positive or negative correlation ship.

Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) comprise about 35-40% of the total lipid content from green algaeChlorella, reaching up to 24% linoleic acid and 27% α-linolenic acid inC. vulgaris. Also, microalgae nutrient composition may be modulated by changes in the culture medium, increasing fatty acid and microelement concentrations in the algae biomass. PUFAs, such as α-linolenic (n-3) and linoleic (n-6) acids, as well as its derivatives, are considered essential for dietary consumption, and their ability to regulate body chemistry has been recently explored in depth. A balanced fatty acid consumption is shown to counteract the negative effects of western diets, such as chronic inflammation and glucose intolerance. In this brief commentary, technological and practical uses ofC. vulgarisare explored as means to improve dietary quality and, ultimately, human health.

Summary A comparative study of the oil yield and fatty acid composition of three Salvia species seeds collected in different locations has been conducted. Seed oil extraction was made using a Soxhlet-extractor and fatty acid analysis was undertaken using a GC-FID. The effect of the collecting site on oil yield, as well as the content of individual fatty acid and total fatty acid and fatty acid content was significant. Seed oil yield varied from 14.94 to 22.83% and the total fatty acids ranged from 67.36 to 82.49 mg/g DW. α-Linolenic (24.02-49.19%), linoleic (20.13-42.88%), oleic (12.97-17.81%) and palmitic (8.37-16.63%) acids were the most abundant fatty acids in all analyzed samples. α-Linolenic acid was found to be the major fatty acid in S. verbenaca and S. officinalis species, however, S. aegyptiaca was characterized by the prevalence of linoleic acid. Among the unsaturated fatty acids, which were represented in all samples in high amounts (78.16-89.34%), the polyunsaturated fatty acids (α-linolenic and linoleic acids) showed important levels ranging from 63.09 to 74.71%. Seeds of S. verbenaca were the richest in polyunsaturated fatty acids.

The objective of this paper is to present the beneficial aspects of some insects consumed in sub-Saharan Africa, based on examples of insects consumed in Cameroon, to present their potential as sources of lipids and essential fatty acids. In Africa, termites, larvae of raphia weevil, caterpillars, crickets, bees, maggots, butterflies, weevil, etc. are significant sources of food. These insects belong mainly to the orders of : Isoptera, Orthoptera, Dictyoptera, Coleoptera, Hymenoptera, Lepidoptera and Diptera. Depending on the species, insects are rich in proteins, minerals (K, Ca, Mg, Zn, P, Fe) and/or vitamins (thiamine/B1, riboflavine/B2, pyridoxine/B6, acid pantothenic, niacin). The composition of oils extracted from the following six insects consumed in Cameroon was investigated : larvaes of raphia weevil (Rhynchophorus phoenicis), crickets (Homorocoryphus nitidulus), grasshopper (Zonocerus variegates), termites (Macrotermes sp.), a variety of caterpillars (Imbrasia sp.) and an unidentified caterpillar from the forest (UI carterpillar). The extraction yields of oil were 53.75%, 67.25%, 9.12%, 49.35%, 24.44% and 20.17% respectively for raphia weevil larvae, crickets, devastating crickets, termites, Imbrasia and UI caterpillar. The oil from raphia weevil mainly contains 37.60% of palmitoleic acid and 45.46% of linoleic acid. The oil from crickets is principally made up of palmitoleic acid (27.59%), linoleic acid (45.63%) and α-linolenic acid (16.19%). The oil from grasshoppers is composed of palmitoleic acid (23.83%), oleic acid (10.71%), linoleic acid (21.07%), α-linolenic acid (14.76%) and γ-linolenic acid (22.54%). The main components of termite oil are : palmitic acid (30.47%), oleic acid (47.52%) and linoleic acid (8.79%). Palmitic acid (36.08%) and linolenic acid (38.01%) are the two dominant fatty acids of Imbrasia oil. As Imbrasia oil, UI caterpillar oil is composed of palmitic acid (30.80%) and linolenic acid (41.79%). Stearic acid (7.04%), oleic acid (8.56%) and linoleic acid (6.59%) are also present. These results show that these insects are considerable sources of fat. Their oils are rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids, of which essential fatty acids are linoleic and linolenic acids. The ratio PUFA/SFA, in the majority of cases is higher than 0.8, associated with desirable levels of cholesterol.

Fatty acid composition of the milk lipids of Nepalese women: correlation between fatty acid composition of serum phospholipids and melting point