Seed oil fatty acids of loasaceae—A new source of γ‐linolenic and stearidonic acids

Abstract

The pharmaceutically interesting ∆6-FA 18:3∆6c, 9c,12c (γ-linolenic acid) and 18:4∆6c,9c,12c,15c (stearidonic acid) appear to have evolved independently several times during plant phylogenetic evolution. They typically occur in "clusters" of a few closely related species or genera in about a dozen different plant families throughout the plant kingdom. A hithertounknown "cluster of occurrence" has now been discovered in the New World plant family Loasaceae. γ-Linolenic and stearidonic acids occur exclusively in representatives of the newly described genus Nasa at significance levels of between 3 and 10% each. Nasa had recently been separated from the older, more broadly circumscribed genus Loasa. The two ∆6-FA were not found in the closely related genus Loasa sensu stricto, nor in a number of other representatives of Loasaceae.