Total Plant Analyses of Sterols and Fatty Acids of the Winged Bean (Psophocarpus tetragonolobus)

Various parts of the winged bean plant, Psophocarpus tetragonolobus were analyzed for sterols and fatty acids. The major sterols were sitosterol, stigmasterol and campesterol. Sitosterol occurred in greatest amounts except in roots where stigmasterol was the predominant sterol. In seeds, behenic acid (22:0) comprised 13.5% of the total fatty acids, whereas, in the other plant parts it varied from 0.1–6.9%. Leaves contained the highest level of fatty acids, but only 22% of these fatty acids were saturated.