Evaluation and comparison of oil content and fatty acid profiles of different populations of Rosa canina L. in different habitats of Azerbaijan, North-West Iran,

The fruit of Rosa canina L. contains valuable substances such as fatty acids. In this study, in order to determine the amount of oil and fatty acid profiles of Rosa canina in different habitats of Iran and to know the diversity of these compounds, the fruits at full ripening stage were collected from 5 habitats with different climatic conditions, including Urmia, Chaldran, Bukan, Shahindeg and Zanjan with a height of 1500, 2000, 1370, 1406 and 1638 m above sea level, respectively, on 21 September in 2017. The oil was extracted from the seeds with Soxhlet apparatus and fatty acids were analyzed by gas chromatography (GC). The results were showed that different habitats had a significant impact on the oil content and fatty acids profiles. The highest and lowest percentages of oil were obtained from Shahindeg (20.57 %) and Chaldran (12.37 %) habitats, respectively. The predominant fatty acids in seed oil of Chaldran habitat were palmitic acid (49.53 %), linoleic acid (46.71 %), cis-9-oleic acid (28.81 %) and cis-11- eicosanoic acid (17.88 %), meanwhile in the Urmia habitat; they were linoleic acid (42.96 %), cis-9-oleic acid (30.33 %), cis-11-eicosanoic acid (15.34 %) and palmitic acid (5.92 %). In the Zanjan habitat, the major of fatty acids were including linoleic acid (46.30 %), cis-9-oleic acid (28.42 %), cis-11-eicosanoic acid (16.71 %) and palmitic acid (4.54 %). In the Bukan habitat, the predominant fatty acids were linoleic acid (45.31 %), cis-9-oleic acid (27.70 %), cis-11- eicosanoic acid (17.70 %) and palmitic acid (5.33 %), while in the Shahindeg habitat; they were linoleic acid (52.61%), cis-9 oleic acid (28.62 %) and cis-11-eicosanoic acid (18.70 %). The Urmia and Bukan habitats had the highest amount of saturated fatty acids, while the seeds of Shahindeg habitat were rich in unsaturated fatty acids. In general, the results of this study proved the effect of ecological conditions on the quantity and quality of fatty acids and the percentage of oil in seed of Rosa canina L.