Analysis of fatty acid composition of two selected Phlomis species

Phlomis bruguieri and Phlomis olivieri are two species of genus Phlomis, growing in Iran. Different species of this genus have shown various biological activities and also contain a wide range of compounds. It has been proved that both species increase sunflower oil stability and inhibit its oxidation. The aim of this study was to analyze fatty acid composition of these two species, of which P. olivieri is endemic in Iran and yet there is no report on their fatty acid composition.
Aerial parts of two plants were collected, hexane extracts were prepared through soxhlet extraction and concentrated by recovering the solvent, derivatization was performed and then gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) was done for detecting fatty acids.
Both plants contained saturated and unsaturated fatty acids. In hexane extract of P. bruguieri 10 fatty acids were identified and 9-octadecenoic acid, 6-octadecynoic acid and hexadecanoic acid were found in high concentrations. P. olivieri also contained 8 fatty acids of which 9-octadecanoic acid, 12,15-otadecadiynoic acid and 7-hexadecenoic acid were detected in high concentrations.
Two investigated plants are common in 3 fatty acids and in both of them octadecenoic acid is found in the highest amount. Unsaturated fatty acids have higher amount than the saturated fatty acids in both plants. This study opens new frontiers and applications of P. bruguieri and P. olivieri due to various bioactive components, especially for pharmaceutical applications.