Premium
Cyclopropenoic fatty acids in gymnosperms: The seed oil of Welwitschia
Author(s) -
Aitzetmüller K.,
Vosmann K.
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
journal of the american oil chemists' society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.512
H-Index - 117
eISSN - 1558-9331
pISSN - 0003-021X
DOI - 10.1007/s11746-998-0329-8
Subject(s) - gymnosperm , fatty acid , botany , biology , chemistry , biochemistry
The seed oil of the gymnosperm Welwitschia mirabilis was found to contain malvalic acid, a cyclopropenoic fatty acid. This is in sharp contrast to most other gymnosperms, which contain Δ5 cis ‐fatty acids as well as the normal set of fatty acids. The importance of this finding in relation to questions of the evolution of the Gymnospermae and Angiospermae, the two main branches of higher plants, is briefly discussed.