Microelement Contents and Fatty Acid Compositions of some Isatis Species Seeds

Abstract

Isatis species are important biennial, herbaceous shrubs represented by 40 taxa, of which 24 are endemic to Turkey. The chemical compounds found in leaves and roots of all Isatis species have medicinal properties and are used for treatment of a wide range of disorders. No study reports seed characteristics, microelement contents and fatty acid compositions of the seeds of any Isatis species except I. tinctoria. Therefore the study was carried out to find seed fatty oil, fatty acid compositions protein content, characteristics, and microelement contents of I. aucheri, I. cochlearis, I. constricta, I. demiriziana (endemic), I. glauca and I. lusitanica. The results showed fatty oil and protein content of these species in range of 2 to 10% and 16.07 to 25.17%, respectively. Furthermore, these seeds were rich in microelements Al, Ca, Fe, K, Mg, Na and P. Major fatty oil components of these species were determined as erucic, oleic, linoleic and linolenic acid; such that erucic acid content of these species ranged 16.94 to 30.52%.