Characterization of the Essential oil and Fatty oil from Makhwaen Fruit (Zanthoxylum rhetsa (Roxb.) DC)

Abstract

In this work, the essential oil (EO) was isolated from the fruit of makhwaen by using hydrodistillation. Then the dried residue from hydrodistillation was further extracted with hexane to produce crude hexane extract (CHE).?? The NMR data confirmed the CHE as fatty oil (FO). Then FO was trans-esterified into fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs).?? The NMR data confirmed the formation of FAMEs. The chemical compositions of EO and FAMEs of FO were analyzed by GC-MS. The 24 compounds were identified in the EO, including 11 monoterpene hydrocarbons, 6 oxygenated monoterpenes, 4 sesquiterpene hydrocarbons, 1 hydrocarbon and 2 ketones. The four major monoterpenes from EO of makhwaen fruit were ??-phellandrene (14.57%), terpinen-4-ol (9.22%), sabinene (6.57%) and ??-pinene (5.92%). While the makhwaen FAMEs of FO contained 5 unsaturated fatty acids and 2 saturated fatty acids. Interestingly, the major components of FAMEs from FO were high amount of ??-linolenic acid (ALA, omega-3, 50.49%), linoleic acid (LA, omega-6, 33.08%) and palmitic acid (10.81%). Moreover, the small amount of cis-vaccenic acid (omega-7, 0.33%) was also found. Therefore, the makhwaen fruit could be considered as a new source of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids. This was the first report on the study of FO components in form of FAMEs from makhwaen fruit.