A review on health benefits of echium oil; as dietary vegetable source of essential fatty acids

Omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids are essential fatty acids for structure and function of the cells. Their presence in the human and mammalian diet is mandatory. The deficiency of these fatty acids underlies pathogenesis of several diseases. The ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 in the diet plays an important role in their physiologic effect. However, the dietary intake of these fatty acids in the most of the world is less than the amounts that should be present in a healthy diet. Moreover, the omega-6/omega-3 ratio is not balanced in the most of dietary sources. Therefore, there is a need to find the new sources of omega-3 and omega-6-rich foods. Echium amaenum is a plant from borage family. This study looks at the beneficial effects of Iranian Echium amaenum seed oil (EO) on human and mammalian health, based on the useful fatty acids present in EO.

In this study we used the papers regarding the beneficial effects of EO on health that are indexed in ISI, Web of Science, Scopus, PubMed Central, PubMed, SID databases during 2000-2017.

EO has the considerable amount of amega-3, stearidonic acid, α-linolenic acid, omega-6, γ- linoleic acid, linoleic acid, and the important omega-9, oleic acid. In addition to presence of many useful unsaturated fatty acids, the ratio of omega-6/omega-3 in EO makes the beneficial effects of EO unique for human.

The acute or chronic intake of EO, as a supplement with minimal side effects, low cost and ease of access, can be effective in the treatment and prevention of many diseases.