| Background: Ruscus specie are used as traditional medicine, food, and foliage. The aim of
this work is the determination of fatty acid composition of Ruscus hyrcanus as a native
medicinal plant of Iran for the first time together with comparison of different esterification
methods.
Methods: Two different esterification methods were used for preparation of esterified fatty
acids from different extracts of underground and aerial parts of the herb. GC/MS analysis
were used for identification and quantification of fatty acids. Finally, the results were
compared.
Results: Findings showed that R. hyrcanus is rich in essential fatty acids such as linoleic
acid (13-25%) and linolenic acid (23-44%). Also, oil samples contain remarkable amount
of palmitic acid (19-57%).
Conclusion: The results showed that R. hyrcanus could be considered as a source of
essential fatty acids. Also, it could be concluded that a simple esterification method with
methanolic KOH and 2 min vortex is suitable for fatty acid analysis of Ruscus species |