Comparative studies of the oil from silybum marianum cultivated in Egypt using glc

Abstract

Quantitative comparative study of the oil fraction constituents in the fruits of Silybum marianum successfully cultivated in new reclaimed land with those of the two wild types viz., purple flower and white flower bearing plants growing in Egypt were presented. GLC analysis of the unsaponifiable fraction of each sample showed the presence of sitosterol as the major constituent in all samples in addition to cholesterol and stigmasterol. The highest content of sitosterol was found in the cultivated plant (22.1%) followed by the wild purple plant relative to the total unsaponifiable fraction. Also, GLC analysis showed the presence of 15 alkanes from n-C\2 to /J-C32 in addition to an unsaturated n-alkene C30H60 in variable ratios. GLC analysis of the fatty acids fraction of each sample revealed that the highest amount of the unsaturated fatty acids was found in the cultivated plant (96%) followed by the wild purple plant (90%) while the lowest content was found in the wild white plant (83%). Moreover, oleic acid was found to be the major component in all samples. These comparative studies have been also carried out on the fatty acids content of the cultivated plant using different water regimes of 75, 60 and 45% per field capacity and nitrogen fertilization levels of 0, 50, 100 and 150 Kg per feddan. GLC analyses showed that the cultivated plant under water treatment of 60% per field gave the highest yield of the total oil content (34%).