3.1. Fatty acid compositions
The data related to fatty acid compositions of oil obtained from capsule of H. heterophyllum are presented in Table 2. This oil consists of 12% saturated and 87% unsaturated fatty acids. In the oil, 13 saturated fatty acids were determined, of which the values of the others, except C16:0 and C18:0 acids, were recorded below 1%. On the other hand, monounsaturated fatty acids constituted 48% of the oil and C18:1 acid had a share of 48% in the six identified fatty acids. As the polyunsaturated fatty acid, only C18:2 acid was determined (Figure 3).
The limited research is available on the fatty acid composition ofHypericum taxa. Some research results related to the subject are summarized in Table 3 and Table 4. It is seen that the fatty acid composition of the oil obtained from Hypericum taxa varies according to the plant and the part of the plant used. For example, C10:0 acid was 20.74% in the aerial part of theH. ericoides ssp. roberti taxon, 1.34% in the aerial part of the H.tomentosa species (Hosni et al.,2017), and 3.62% in the flowers of the H. uniglandulosum species (Turkoglu et al., 2015). C8:0, C10:0, C11:0, C12:0, C14:0, C16:0, C18:0, C20:0, C22:0, and C24:0 acids were determined as saturated fatty acids in oils obtained from Hypericum taxa. However, it was observed that the ratio of C16:0 was higher in these (Table 3). The oil obtained from different parts of Hypericum taxon has been found to contain both mono (C16:1, C18:1, C22:1, and C24:1) and polyunsaturated (C18:2, C18:3, and C20:3) fatty acids, and the amount of C18: 1, C18: 2, and C13: 3 acids was higher (Table 4).
Oil was obtained from aerial parts, leaves, seeds and flowers ofHypericum taxa, but no studies on the fatty acid composition of the fruit capsule were found among the studied literature. The fatty acid composition of oils is the most important factor that determines the commercial uses. Fatty acids and their chemical derivatives play an important role in almost every area of modern life. The main fatty acids found in oils and fats are grouped into saturated fatty acids, monounsaturated fatty acids and polyunsaturated fatty acids (Mariod et al., 2011). The prevailing fatty acids in vegetable oils are unsaturated fatty acids, and also saturated fatty acid ratio is less than 20%. Vegetable oils are divided into six groups as “C12:0, C16:0, C18:1, C18:2, C18:3, and C22:1” considering the dominant fatty acid. Oleic-linoleic acid group is the largest and most important group among the oils (Nas et al., 2001). According to our results, H. heterophyllum capsule oil is in the oleic-linoleic acid group. Oleic and linoleic acids have important uses in our daily lives (Table 5). Generally, C16:0 acid is the most common saturated fatty acid found in all vegetable oils and animal fats. It is relatively common in C18:0 acid. Similar results were taken from H. heterophyllum capsule oil (Table 2).