International audienceThe lipid fraction of Opuntia ficus indica seeds was extracted and analyzed for its chemical and physical properties such as acid value, free fatty acid percentage (% FFA), iodine index, peroxide value, and saponification value as well as refractive index and density. The yield of seed oil was calculated as 11.75%. The acid and free fatty acid values indicated that the oil has a fairly low acidity. The triacylglycerols, fatty acids, sterols, and tocopherols were identified and their concentrations determined. The main TAGs were LLL (25.60%), OLL (21.53%), PLL (15.53%), and POL + SLL (12.73%). Linoleic acid (60.69%) was the dominant fatty acid, followed by oleic (21.42%) and palmitic (12.76%) acids, respectively. A high level of sterols making up 16.06 g/kg seed oil was present. The sterol marker, β-sitosterol, accounted for 71.60% of the total sterol content in the seed oil. Among the tocopherols present in the oil, γ-tocopherol (421.08 mg/kg) was the main constituent

In the present study analyses concerning the composition of vitamin E, sterols, triglycerides, and fatty acids of three Teucrium species (Teucrium alopecurus, T. nabli, and T. polium) seed oil were performed. Linoleic, linolenic, and palmitic were the major fatty acids. The oil was characterized by a high amount of phytosterol, wherein clerosterol, sitosterol, and stigmasterol are the main constituents. The amount of tocopherol is nearly 550 mg/kg of oil, with α-tocopherol as the major isomer. Information concerning the composition of Teucrium seed oil is very important for evaluating the therapeutic effect of this oil.Natural seed oils are mixtures of triacylglycerides (95-98%) and a wide range of compounds like wax esters, sterols, tocopherols, phospholipids, phenolics derivatives, etc. (2-5%) [1].Phytosterol and tocopherol are among the most interesting lipophilic constituents, and they have multiple beneficial effects. Tocopherol plays an important role in the prevention of some chronic diseases and certain kinds of cancer [2], while phytosterol and specifically beta-sitosterol are known to lower serum cholesterol concentration and atherosclerotic risk [3,4].Teucrium genus (Labiatae) is found through the world but mainly in the Mediterranean basin with 220 taxa [5], 19 of which grow in Tunisia [6][7][8]. Teucrium species have been used for more than 2000 years as medicinal herb for a great range of actions: antispasmodic, hypolipidemic, anti-inflammatory, and hypoglycemic [9][10][11][12][13][14].Phytochemical investigations have shown that the aerial part of Teucrium species contains various compounds such as flavonoids, diterpenes, iridoids, etc. Teucrium alopecurus and Teucrium nabli are two endemic species limited to south Tunisia [6,8]. The seeds of this plant and of Teucrium polium have not been explored. The objective of our work was to characterize the chemical composition of seed oil (fatty acids, triglycerides, vitamin E, and sterols) from three Teucrium species (Teucrium alopecurus, Teucrium nabli, and Teucrium polium), which could have very interesting cosmetic and/or pharmaceutical uses.Teucrium seeds averaged 1% yield, with T. nabli exhibiting the highest yields (1.2%). According to the results shown in the Table 1, eleven fatty acids were identified; hydrocarbons were also detected but not included in Table 1.The fatty acid content of the seed oil of the three Teucrium species showed big quantitative differences (Table1). The most abundant fatty acids were linoleic, linolenic, and palmitic acids, which together comprised 89.2%, 74.2%, and 62.6%, respectively, in T. nabli, T. alopecurus, and T. polium total fatty acids. The analysis of FAME of different species showed that lauric acid was found in relatively high amounts (9%) in T. polium; this acid is less important in T. alopecurus and T. nabli (2% and 1.6%). T. polium and T. alopecurus seed oil presented the highest amounts of C28:0, 9% and 5.9%, respectively, whereas T. nabli had the lowest value, 3%. The ratio of unsaturated to saturated fat...

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The essential oil from aerial parts of Teucrium ramosissimum Desf. (Lamiaceae), endemic to North Africa, was isolated by steam distillation and analysed by gas chromatography (GC) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Seventy-four components were identified; the essential oil was mainly composed of sesquiterpene hydrocarbons and oxygenated sesquiterpenes at nearly the same amounts (41.9% and 42.3%, respectively). δ δ δ δ δ -Cadinene (19.97%), α α α α α -cadinol (9.93%) and germacradien-4-α α α α α -1-ol (8.68%) were the major compounds.

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