FATTY ACIDS ANALYSIS AND CHEMOTAXONOMIC CONSIDERATIONS OF MALVOIDEAE (MALVACEAE) SPECIES

Previous researches showed that fatty acids analysis might be a useful tool to support the taxonomic investigation. In this approach the fatty acids content of ten Malvoideae species was analyzed and its chemotaxonomic significance has been investigated. The aerial parts of the species were collected in the Northeast of Brazil and their fatty acid methyl esters were analyzed by gas chromatography with flame ionization detector. The chemometric analysis consisted of principal component analysis (PCA) and hierarchical clustering analysis (HCA) with the euclidean distance between the samples given by the Ward.D2 algorithm. This is the first report of fatty acids from Wissadula peripocifolia, Herissantia crispa, Bakeridesia pickelii, Sidastrum micranthum, Pavonia cancellata and Pavonia malacophylla. The results showed the predominance of palmitic (C16:0), oleic (C18:1) and linoleic (C18:2) acids in the studied species. By the PCA and HCA analysis, the fatty acid composition was able to distinguish the species Herissantia crispa and Pavonia malacophylla. Our findings showed a chemotaxonomic proximity among species from different genera reflecting the taxonomic and phylogenetic closeness previously demonstrated by molecular investigations on Malvoidae species. Furthermore, our results demonstrated that the fatty acid analysis may be an interesting tool to support the taxonomic investigations on Malvoideae species.

FATTY ACIDS CONTENT IN UNGURAHUA OIL (OENOCARPUS BATAUA) FROM ECUADOR. FINDINGS ON ADULTERATION OF UNGURAHUA OIL IN ECUADOR

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the fatty acids composition in an ungurahua seeds oil (Oenocarpus bataua) sample cultivated in Ecuador and to determine eventual adulteration in the composition of commercial ungurahua oil.Methods: Oil was obtained from ungurahua seeds using the cold pressing method. Fatty acids analysis was performed using the gas chromatography (GC) method with a mass selective detector and using the database library NIST14.L to identify the compounds.Results: Methyl esters fatty acids were identified from ungurahua (O. bataua) using the GC mass spectrometer analytical method. Ungurahua oil presented a high content of monounsaturated fatty acids with 82.03% of oleic acids. A fraud in the composition of fatty acids present in commercial ungurahua oil was found as fatty acids had a value of only 36.77% of oleic acids. The content of linoleic acid can be used to determine adulteration of this oil.Conclusions: Ungurahua seeds are a good source of monounsaturated and fatty acids. The content of oleic acid is higher than in olive oil. Ungurahua can help reducing cardiovascular diseases risk in Ecuador due to its good composition of monounsaturated fatty acids. Ungurahua oil is a good option to be used in the food industry for different uses.