Acer triflorum: A maple species that serves as a resource for nervonic acid and that has an ultralow erucic acid content

Abstract

In this experiment, pulse NMR and gas chromatography were used to determine the seed oil content and fatty acid composition of Acer triflorum. In addition, the morphological characteristics of samaras and seeds were measured by conventional methods. The results showed that the average oil content of the tested seeds was 33.44 ± 0.098% and revealed the presence of 16 fatty acids, of which six constituted 93.57% of the total oil cocent: linoleic acid, oleic acid, docosadienoic acid, peanutenedioic acid, palmitic acid and nervonic acid. In particular, the erucic acid content was less than 1%. Fifteen morphological indexes were measured and used as a reference for breeding Acer triflorum. This is the first study to investigate the seed oil content and fatty acid composition of Acer triflorum.

Metabolome and Transcriptome Analyses Unravels Molecular Mechanisms of Leaf Color Variation by Anthocyanidin Biosynthesis in Acer triflorum

“…As an excellent color-leaf ornamental tree species, it is used for landscaping projects, especially for the corridor forest landscape [3,4]. In addition, A. triflorum is beneficial to ecological protection of saline-alkali zones due to its strong cold tolerance and salt-alkali resistance [5]. Due to the ornamental characteristics and gardening application, researchers have studied the morphological and physiological traits suitable for developing propagation methods [6] and seed contents in A. triflorum [7]; however, relatively little is known about molecular mechanism of leaf color change.…”

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“…Their seed oil is reported of high importance regarding its yield and composition (He at al. 2021, Qian et al 2017, Qiao et al 2017, Qiao et al 2018, Su et al 2021. For example, Hovanet et al (2015) reported that Acer platanoides L. and Acer pseudoplatanus L. seed oil yield varies respectively between 3.3 to 4.89 % and 5.12 to 6.97 %.…”

“…Another interesting fatty acid mentioned by the authors is the gamma-linolenic acid, found in lower rates (3.3 % and 2.5 % of the two seed oils respectively), and has several health benefits regarding cardiovascular and skin diseases. Another interesting fatty acid found in some maple species is nervonic acid which has an important role in brain health by helping regenerate nerve fibres and increasing the capacity of neurodevelopment (Su et al 2021). He et al (2021) reported that nervonic acid was found in 46 Chinese maple species seed oil varying from 2.84 % for Acer cappadocicum to 13.9 % for Acer elegantulum.…”

“…semenovii has the highest content of unsaturated fatty acids in its oil (94.2 %) while the Acer amplum has the lowest rate (73.3 %). SU et al (2021) reported that Acer triflorum seed oil was composed of 16 fatty acids of which only six cumulate more than 90 %. These fatty acids are Linoleic acid (44 %), Oleic acid (20.7 %), Docosadienoic acid (12.7 %), Peanutenedioic acid (6.8 %), Palmitic acid (5 %), and Nervonic acid (4.5 %).…”