Fatty acid, tocopherol, and sterol content of three Teucrium species from Tunisia

Abstract

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...

Medicinal halophytes: potent source of health promoting biomolecules with medical, nutraceutical and food applications

“…Fontana et al (1999) reported also the isolation of 6′-fatty acid esters of (24S)-24-ethylcholesta-5,25-dien-3-yl-glucopyranoside from T. fruticans. GC analyses of the sterol isolated from T. polium, T. nabli, and T. alopecurus seed oil showed the presence of four Δ5 sterols (campesterol, stigmasterol, clerosterol, sitosterol), wherein the sterol marker was clerosterol, which comprised 44.3, 47, and 58.9%, respectively in T. nabli, T. polium, and T. alopecurus of the total sterol content, followed by stigmasterol and sitosterol, which percentages are different according to the species (Hachicha et al, 2009). Teucrium seed oil is a rich source of phytosterol, with the highest concentration of 363.6 mg/100 g of oil in T. nabli, 330.4 mg/100 g of oil in T. polium, and 349.7 mg/100 g in T. alopecurus.…”

“…Teucrium genus is found everywhere in the world but mainly in the Mediterranean basin with 220 taxa (Greuter et al, 1986;Hachicha et al, 2009), 19 of which grow in Tunisia (Ghrabi et al, 1989). It has been used for more than 2000 years as halophytic medicinal herb considering their multiple properties: antispasmodic, hypolipidemic, anti-inflammatory, and hypoglycemic (Cavaleiro et al, 2004;Ricci et al, 2005).…”

Biological screening of Ajuga iva extracts obtained by supercritical carbon dioxide and pressurized liquid extraction

“…Our SCE Extracts exhibited highest TEAC L-ORAC value when compared with Teucrium species seed oil of which ranged between 14.58 and 296mg/kg (Hachicha et al, 2009).…”

“…In humans, the Tocopherols act mainly as Vitamin E precursors and they have some role in the prevention of some chronic diseases and certain cancers, and found mainly in leaves and seeds (Hachicha et al, 2009). Tocopherol contents of the SCE extracts as (α, β, γ, δ) (μg tocopherol/g DWE) from tow Algerian AI (BEJ and BBA) are given in Table 2, α-tocopherol dominated the profile in both AI, at 3290 ± 0.27 and 1580 ± 0.03 μg/g DWE respectively, while β-tocopherol is the lowest and was only 150 μg/g DWE detected in AI extracts.…”

Analysis of polyphenols, phytosterols, and bitter principles in Teucrium L. species

“…To the best of our knowledge, only one study covering determination of phytosterols in Teucrium species was published. The seed oil of three Teucrium species (T. alopecurus, T. nabli, and T. polium) were analyzed by Hachicha et al [33] and it was characterized by a high amount of phytosterol fraction, wherein clerosterol, sitosterol, and stigmasterol were the main constituents. Phytosterols have been used as blood cholesterol-lowering agents for more than 50 years, since they inhibit cholesterol absorption in the small intestine.…”