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The structure of the glycerides of ergot oils
Author(s) -
Morris L. J.,
Hall S. W.
Publication year - 1966
Publication title -
lipids
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.601
H-Index - 120
eISSN - 1558-9307
pISSN - 0024-4201
DOI - 10.1007/bf02531871
Subject(s) - glyceride , ricinoleic acid , lipase , fatty acid , triglyceride , chemistry , hydrolysis , glycerol , organic chemistry , lipidology , tributyrin , claviceps purpurea , interesterified fat , biochemistry , castor oil , cholesterol , enzyme
The oils from sclerotia or from suitable mycelial cultures of Claviceps purpurea (ergot) contain up to 44% of ricinoleic acid but no free hydroxyl groups. This is due to the presence of, besides normal triglycerides, tetra‐acid, penta‐acid and hexa‐acid triglycerides. These contain respectively one, two and three ricinoleic acids esterified to glycerol, these in turn being acylated at their hydroxy groups with normal long‐chain fatty acids. By suitable complementary use of TLC, GLC and lipase hydrolysis techniques, the proportions, compositions and structures of these novel triglyceride classes were determined. Four types of positional specificities in fatty acid combinations could be shown by our procedures. These are discussed and, on the basis of our results, some tentative proposals as to possible biosynthetic mechanisms are advanced.