NEUTRAL LIPIDS AND HIGHER FATTY ACIDS IN REPRESENTATIVES OF THE GENUS ALLIUM L. OF THE KO-MI REPUBLIC FLORA

Abstract

The study of the content of neutral lipids (NL) and higher fatty acids (HFA) in three species of the genus Allium from the flora of the Komi Republic: A. angulosum, A. schoenoprasum and A. strictum is carried out. The amount of neutral lipids in different parts of the studied plants averaged from 0.5 to 6.5% of the air-dry mass. Seeds of all kinds were distinguished by the greatest accumulation of NL (up to 10–13%). It is shown that the composition of the NL of the studied species consists mainly of fatty acid molecules with a chain length of C14 – C20 and an even number of carbon atoms. Their distribution by parts of the plant has common patterns for all three species. The main amount of saturated fatty acid in all parts of the plant is palmitic acid C16:0, the amount of which is 20.8–49.1% of the total acid content. Of unsaturated acids, linoleic acid (C18:2) dominates, the content of which lies in the range of 21.9–73.0%. Linolenic acid (C18:3) it accumulates in maximum amounts in the leaves, from 25.5 to 37.0%, while in other parts its content does not exceed 10%. The leaves are characterized by an organ-specific distribution of linoleic and linolenic acids, the quantitative ratio of which is close to 1 : 1. Linoleic acid is the main content in seed oil (from 69.3 to 73.0%), and the total amount of unsaturated acids exceeds 92%. The study of seasonal dynamics showed that the content of NL in the leaves and bulbs of A. angulosum and A. stricrum is maximal in the regrowth phase and minimal in the flowering phase. In luke A. schoenoprasum the largest amount of NL was found in the budding phase, in the fruiting phase it dropped to the minimum values.