Fatty acid profile, silymarin content and production properties of milk thistle (

Abstract

Drought stress has an adverse effect on crop production and food quality. Milk thistle (Silybum marianum L.) is an oil and medicinal crop known as an alternative oil crop with high level of unsaturated fatty acids, which makes it a favourable edible oil for use in food production. Silymarin (a mixture of flavonolignans) is the main active medicinal component. Biochemical diversity, changes induced by water deficit stress in secondary metabolites, and their relationships with production traits in native germplasm are poorly understood in milk thistle. Twenty-six ecotypes mainly collected from different regions of Iran were evaluated for oil, fatty acid profile, triacylglycerol (TAG) composition, silymarin and agro-morphological traits under non-stress and water stress conditions for 2 years. Water stress increased oil and silymarin content while decreasing fruit yield and related traits. The most abundant fatty acid averaged over all ecotypes under both moisture conditions was linoleic acid (L, 39%), followed by oleic acid (O, 36%), palmitic acid (P, 9%) and stearic acid (E, 6%). Among the 24 detected TAGs, the five major compositions were OOL, OLL + OOLn (linolenic), POL, OOO, LLL + OLLn and EOL. Superior ecotypes rich in monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids were identified and can be introduced as candidates for food, medicinal and industrial purposes. Associations among different attributes are discussed.

Impact of Milk Thistle (Silybum marianum [L.] Gaertn.) Seeds in Broiler Chicken Diets on Rearing Results, Carcass Composition, and Meat Quality

“…Similar content of fatty acids was measured by Garaev et al [69], Růžičková et al [66] and Harrabi et al [26], who in the evaluated samples of milk thistle seeds determined 50.58-66.4% of linoleic acid, 16.26-25.44% of oleic acid, 7.24-9.20% of palmitic acid and 3.56-5.92% of stearic acid. The above-mentioned higher shares of linoleic acid (64.4%) and oleic acid (26.38%) in the lipids of Silybum marianum seeds were found by Khan et al [25], whereas a lower (45.36% and 39%) share of linoleic acid but a higher (31.58% and 36%) share of oleic acid was determined by Hasanloo et al [70] and Majidi et al [27], respectively.…”

“…Milk thistle seeds have a different content of protein (160-300 g/kg) containing a lot of exogenous amino acids, which is confirmed by EAAI-the essential amino acid index (60.32) [22][23][24]. Crude fat from milk thistle seeds has an advantageous composition of fatty acids with oleic and linoleic acid predominating [22,23,[25][26][27]. A high content of cellulose and lignin fraction in the diets of monogastric animals can pose certain limitations [28].…”

Effects of Two Varieties and Fertilization Regimes on Growth, Fruit, and Silymarin Yield of Milk Thistle Crop

“…In 2021, the silymarin accumulation was higher by 4.38-8.18% compared with 2020, probably due to the dryer weather conditions that prevailed during the second growing season. However, it is well documented in other studies that water stress causes an increase in silymarin accumulation in the fruits [10,18].…”

“…In 2021, the oil content in both varieties was higher compared with that in 2020, probably due to the wetter weather conditions that prevailed during April and May in 2020. Similarly, in Iran, water stress increased oil accumulation in the fruits of the plants [10].…”

“…Due to its pharmaceutical properties, this species is an important medicinal plant and it is cultivated in many European countries such as Austria, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Germany, and Poland [6][7][8]. However, except for silymarin production, milk thistle can be cultivated for oil production [9,10]. This oil is edible [11] and can be used in cooking [12] or in the pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries [11,13,14].…”