Analysis of the fatty acid content of Sideritis scardica Gris. Using GC-FID

Abstract

In large parts of the world, various plants are used in treatment and cures of various diseases. Sideritis species are plentiful of important metabolites such as terpenes, flavonoids, essential oils and sterols. Fatty acids are known as important bio-composites that participate in complex metabolic pathways, thus they possess key biological roles. Considering that increasing collection and consumption of plants and extracts of S. scardica for therapeutic purposes, it is crucial to accomplish qualitative chemical analysis of extracts, to determine the content of fatty acids into them. Analysis and extraction of fatty acids was done by GC-FID gas chromatography. The fatty acid content into the plant extract from S. scardica Griseb. was done according to the modified AOAC Official Method 996.06 (2005). Based on the results achieved we can conclude that the fatty acid profile into the plant extract of S. scardica contains saturated fatty acids (SFA) and, in larger amounts, unsaturated fatty acids (UFA), respectively oleic and linoleic acid (as representative of omega-6 essential acids).