The roots of Cryptolepis saguinolenta were extracted with petroleum ether (40–60_C) to afford the oil in 0.7% yield to the wet mass of raw material. The fatty acid methyl esters (FAME) were separated and analyzed by GC-MS. The following fatty acids as their methyl esters in various proportions were obtained: linoleic acid (52%), palmitic acid (17%), stearic acid (5.8%), margaric acid (2.8%), oleic acid (1.8%), and arachidic acid (1.8%). The most abundant fatty acid identified was the essential dietary fatty acid linoleic acid in the proportion of 52%, which underscores the health and nutritional benefits of the plant besides its medicinal properties, which was the aim of this work.
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Acknowledgment
We acknowledge with gratitude the Commonwealth Academic Fellowship Award (GHCF-2007-31) to Y. O. Boahen tenured at the School of Chemistry, University of Reading, England and the GC/MS instrument made available to us at the School of Food Biosciences, University of Reading, England.
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Published in Khimiya Prirodnykh Soedinenii, No. 5, pp. 606–608, September–October, 2011.
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Opoku-Boahen, Y., Barku, V.Y.A. & Dobson, A. Characterisation of fatty acids in the roots of Cryptolepis sanguinolenta . Chem Nat Compd 47, 686–689 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10600-011-0036-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10600-011-0036-9