Identification of Fatty Acids in Edible Wild Plants by Gas Chromatography

Human beings evolved on a diet that was balanced in the omega-6 and omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), and was high in antioxidants. Edible wild plants provide alpha-linolenic acid and PUFA. Today, we know that omega-3 fatty acids are essential for normal growth and development and may play an important role in the prevention and treatment of coronary artery disease, hypertension, diabetes, arthritis, other inflammatory and autoimmune disorders, and cancer. Comparison of obtained results from analysis of fatty acids of edible plant oils showed that Solanum oil has the highest nutritional value because it contains high contents of linoleic acid (62.29%) and oleic acid (8.6%) and Asparagus oil has high nutritional value because it contains 66.12% oleic acid and 9.6% linoleic acid. Comparison of results of this study with reported results by Artemis (2004) showed that palmetic acid (34.48%) and estearic acid (21.71%) contents of portulaca in this study were greater than the results reported by Artemis. Therefore, we can conclude that Solanum and Asparagus oil are edible and have good nutritive values.