Fatty Acid Composition and Oil Content of Some Safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) Cultivars of Indian Origin
Dr. Gargee Yadav1, Dr. H.C. Srivastava2
1Associate Professor, S.N. Sen B V P G College, Mall Road, Kanpur
2Associate Professor, D.B.S. P.G. College, Govind Nagar, Kanpur
*Corresponding Author E-mail: gargeeyadav@yahoo.in
ABSTRACT:
In this study the fatty acid composition of some different safflower cultivars was determined. The total oil content ranged from 27.3% for line CTV 74 to 39.4% for line CTV 53. The main monounsaturated fatty acid (MUFA) was oleic acid ranging from 11.2% in CTV 72 to 25.3% for CTV 85. The only polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) is linoleic acid ranging from 49.5% for CTV 81 to 82.4% for CTV53. Palmitic acid content ranged from 1.3% in CTV 55 to 8.1% in CTV68. Trace amounts of myristic acid was also found to be present in some samples. The fatty acid results are quite encouraging in as far as ratio of oleic and linoleic is concerned. These results are quite significant for selection studies for development of varieties with higher oleic acid content for a healthy diet.
KEYWORDS: fatty acids, oil content, oleic acid , linoleic acid
INTRODUCTION:
Safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) is an annual herb of family Asteraceae. In early centuries it was a source of colour production and was sown around fields for fencing due to presence of thorns. The colorful petals of flower were used for production of orange dye carthamin, it is also used as an adulterant of the condiment saffron. The plant is known to possess many medicinal values. The plant has a high degree of tolerance to drought and salinity. It is known as poor man’s oilseed as it thrives well under low input conditions1. Oil obtained from seeds of plant is the chief modern use of plant. The seed contains 30 -40 % oil2. If seed hulls are not taken into account then kernels generally contain about 60% oil but this may vary from 52 to 70% depending on the cultivar and other environmental factors 3.
The suitability of an oil for human consumption depends largely on it’s fatty acid composition. . However, the fatty acid composition of vegetable oil is highly variable in different plant species. The average fatty acid composition of the safflower oil is about 78 % linoleic 10 % oleic 9% stearic and 5% palmitic acid 4. However certain varieties are also found which have a high percentage of oleic acid, a monounsaturated acid 5 . The oil is highly valued for dietary reasons because of it’s high proportions of polyunsaturated fatty acids( PUFA) which are suggested for heart patients with high blood cholesterol level 6 .
As the demand for beneficial PUFA has drastically increased in recent years, there are increasing efforts to find plant sources of PUFA which are economic and sustainable.
There are two types of safflower varieties, one which has a higher concentration of monounsaturated fatty acid MUFA, (oleic acid) and the other one having high concentration of PUFA, polyunsaturated fatty acid (linoleic acid)7.
The present study was carried out to identify parental lines with sufficient genetic diversity regarding fatty acid profile and oil content in twenty five different lines of Carthamus species.
MATERIALS AND METHODS:
Seeds of plants of following safflower germplasms were used in the present study, obtained from local agriculture university. The varieties selected for the study were CTV57 ;CTV67; CTV34; CTV55 ; CTV59; CTV79; CTV64; T111; CTV74; CTV89; CTV72; CTV82; CTV86 ; CTV68; CTV7; CTV91; CTV75; CTV81; CTV97; CTV48; CTV 53; CTV85; CTV83; CTV90; CTV61.Two trials(IET and CVT) of the national standard variety, analysis of which was done in previous study8 were included for analysis study of oil content and fatty acid composition.
After sampling the seeds were subjected for chemical analysis.
Chemical analysis:
Removal of moisture: Selected seeds were dried in oven at about 600C for ten hours to remove the moisture. Oil content estimation was done on moisture free seeds 9,10.
Oil content: Oil content was estimated using oxford 4000 NMR-Analyzer, one single point calibration in duplicate. The operational parameters are given below:-
|
Instrument Oxford 400 NMR analyzer |
|
Version NA-01-9T |
|
Mode 4 |
|
R.F Level 350 |
|
A F Gain 500 |
|
Gate width 1.5 |
|
Analytical time 10 |
|
Repeats 1 |
|
Calibration time 10 |
Standard sample for estimation of oil content was prepared by extracting oil by soxhlet method using 40-60 petroleum ether as solvent.
Determination of Fatty Acid Profile
It is done in two steps. The first one is the sample preparation (Fatty acid methyl esters) and second step is the separation of different fatty acids by subjecting the sample ester to Gas-liquid chromatography.
(a) Preparation of the sample
About 5 gms clean and mature seed samples taken and crushed in a porcelain pestle mortar and washed with Petroleum ether (40-60 B.p) to extract oil in cold. Excess of solvent was removed by keeping oil overnight .Fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs) were prepared according to the standard AOCS methods 11.
(b) Gas chromatographic separation of fatty acid methyl esters. The prepared FAMEs samples were subjected to Gas chromatographic analysis. Individual fatty acid was worked out by comparing the retention time with those of pure standards.The fatty acid composition was reported as a relative percentage of the total peak as following:
Area under individual peak
Percentage of = _____________________________
total fatty acid Total area of all the peaks
RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS:
Oil content:
The oil content of the samples as determined by NMR showed a wide variation (Table 1). The values ranged from 27.3% for line CTV 74 to 39.4% for line CTV 53. The national standard variety was shown to have an oil content of 29.9% and 30.0% in IET and CVT respectively. The oil content of a seed is dependable on many factors such as agro –ecological conditions, geographical locations and genetic factors 12. The range of oil content in seeds is in accordance with other works previously reported 13.
Fatty acid profile:
Gas chromatographic analysis is done for characterizing oil of vegetable origin by determining their fatty acid composition. Four major fatty acids were found. These are palmitic (16:0), stearic (18:0), oleic (18:1) and linoleic acid (18:2).Most prominent monounsaturated fatty acid (MUFA) is oleic acid and main polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) is linoleic acid in all the samples. Small or trace amounts of myristic acid has also been reported in some samples.Linoleic acid is found in maximum concentrations and stearic acid is found in minimum amounts. Table2 below shows the fatty acid composition of all the samples evaluated.
Table 1. Oil content of various lines of safflower
|
Line |
Oil content |
Line |
Oil content |
|
IET A-1 |
30.0 |
A-1 CVT |
29.9 |
|
CTV 57 |
33.0 |
CTV 68 |
32.4 |
|
CTV 67 |
32.7 |
CTV 7 |
34.5 |
|
CTV 34 |
38.5 |
CTV 91 |
30.2 |
|
CTV 55 |
28.3 |
CTV75 |
32.9 |
|
CTV 59 |
30.6 |
CTV81 |
32.8 |
|
CTV 79 |
34.0 |
CTV 97 |
32.5 |
|
CTV 64 |
36.4 |
CTV48 |
35.4 |
|
T 111 |
31.9 |
CTV53 |
39.4 |
|
CTV 74 |
27.3 |
CTV 85 |
34.4 |
|
CTV89 |
33. |
CTV 83 |
28.8 |
|
CTV72 |
34. |
CTV 90 |
30.6 |
|
CTV 82 |
33.7 |
CTV 61 |
30.4 |
|
CTV 86 |
35.7 |
|
|
The percentage of stearic acid varied from 0.9% in CTV 53 to 17.2% in CTV7 with national standard having 12.4%. Another saturated fatty acid in considerable amounts is palmitic acid which varied from 1.3% in CTV 55 to 8.1% in CTV68, it’s variation was not as large as stearic acid, the national standard was on the higher side with 7.1%.
The main monounsaturated fatty acid (MUFA) was oleic acid ranging from 11.2% in CTV 72 to 25.3% for CTV 85. More than five samples had more than 21% of oleic acid. Mono unsaturated acids such as oleic acids have great importance because of their nutritional implication in humans and effect on the oxidative stability of oils14. The only polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) is linoleic acid ranging from 49.5% for CTV 81 to 82.4% for CTV 53. Eleven samples are reported to have more than 70% of linoleic acid composition.
In this way the total composition of saturated fatty acids varied from 4.5% for CTV 86 to 24.9% for CTV81, which also has an appreciable percentage of oleic acid.
The unsaturated fatty acids varied from 74.7% for CTV 81 to 95.6% for CTV 86. The ratios of these fatty acids are important as they point towards their nutritive and economic value.
Relationships among Fatty Acid Compositions
The correlation analysis between various fatty acids of the accessions gave the following results. Palmitic acid had a significant and positive correlation with stearic and oleic acid. Stearic acid was significantly positively correlated with oleic acid but oleic acid had a highly significant negative correlation with linoleic acid. These correlations agree with the previous reports on sesame 15 .
Table 2. Fatty acid composition (area%) of seed oil of different lines of safflower
|
Line |
Myristic acid |
Palmitic acid (16:0) |
Stearic acid (18:0) |
Oleic acid (18:1) |
Linoleic acid (18:2) |
Saturated acid |
Unsaturated acid |
|
IET A-1 |
0.68 |
6.1 |
3.0 |
17.0 |
73.2 |
9.78 |
90.2 |
|
A-1 CVT |
1.6 |
12.4 |
7.1 |
13.6 |
65.3 |
21.1 |
78.9 |
|
CTV 57 |
1.3 |
8.3 |
2.3 |
17.9 |
70.1 |
11.9 |
88.0 |
|
CTV 67 |
- |
5.9 |
2.8 |
18.8 |
72.2 |
8.7 |
91.0 |
|
CTV 34 |
- |
11.5 |
3.4 |
17.1 |
68.1 |
14.9 |
85.2 |
|
CTV 55 |
1.2 |
7.1 |
1.3 |
13.0 |
77.2 |
9.6 |
90.2 |
|
CTV 59 |
- |
8.3 |
3.2 |
16.4 |
72.0 |
11.5 |
88.4 |
|
CTV 79 |
- |
12.7 |
6.1 |
15.4 |
65.8 |
18.8 |
81.2 |
|
CTV 64 |
0.15 |
6.1 |
3.2 |
11.8 |
77.8 |
9.4 |
90.6 |
|
T 111 |
0.5 |
6.8 |
1.6 |
21.6 |
69.2 |
8.9 |
90.8 |
|
CTV 74 |
1.8 |
8.1 |
3.1 |
14.2 |
73.0 |
13.0 |
87.2 |
|
CTV 89 |
0.3 |
11.3 |
3.4 |
14.1 |
70.7 |
15.0 |
84.8 |
|
CTV 72 |
- |
13.5 |
3.2 |
11.2 |
71.7 |
16.7 |
82.9 |
|
CTV 82 |
0.58 |
6.5 |
4.0 |
14.1 |
75.1 |
11.0 |
89.2 |
|
CTV 86 |
- |
2.0 |
2.5 |
16.2 |
79.4 |
4.5 |
95.6 |
|
CTV 68 |
- |
9.1 |
8.1 |
22.0 |
61.2 |
17.2 |
83.2 |
|
CTV 7 |
- |
17.2 |
5.1 |
17.4 |
60.5 |
22.3 |
77.9 |
|
CTV 91 |
- |
10.2 |
3.1 |
19.2 |
67.8 |
13.3 |
87.0 |
|
CTV 75 |
- |
12.1 |
6.7 |
17.9 |
63.3 |
18.8 |
81.2 |
|
CTV 81 |
2.1 |
17.1 |
5.7 |
25.2 |
49.5 |
24.9 |
74.7 |
|
CTV 97 |
- |
2.2 |
2.5 |
17.5 |
77.9 |
4.7 |
95.4 |
|
CTV 48 |
- |
9.5 |
7.1 |
20.0 |
63.8 |
16.6 |
83.8 |
|
CTV 53 |
- |
0.9 |
4.1 |
12.2 |
82.4 |
5.0 |
94.6 |
|
CTV 85 |
1.8. |
13.7 |
6.5 |
25.3 |
52.8 |
22.0 |
78.1 |
|
CTV 83 |
- |
10.1 |
3.0 |
20.5 |
66.3 |
13.1 |
86.8 |
|
CTV 90 |
- |
11.7 |
3.8 |
14.0 |
70.1 |
15.5 |
84.1 |
|
CTV 61 |
- |
9.4 |
4.2 |
21.3 |
65.2 |
13.6 |
86.5 |
CONCLUSION:
The quality of an oil largely depends on it’s fatty acid composition. There was a variation among the varieties in terms of the fatty acid composition, this is important to determine their nutritional value and their potential for commercial use. This might be important in selecting cultivars for particular uses; e.g. for the production of oil for human consumption and in particularly healthy snack foods high in polyunsaturated fatty acids as the consumer today is interested in not only the fat content but also in the saturated fatty acids to the unsaturated fatty acids ratio with great emphasis on the monounsaturates as they play an important role in the prevention of cardiovascular disease and other heart problems 16. Developing high linoleic acid cultivars may be useful in fields of non food applications such as preparation of drying oils and paints.
The results obtained in this study provide useful information for developing new cultivars with high oil content and a better modified fatty acid composition.
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Received on 19.05.2013 Modified on 01.06.2013
Accepted on 06.06.2013 © AJRC All right reserved
Asian J. Research Chem. 6(7): July 2013; Page 634-636