Food Lipids: Chemistry, Nutrition, and Biotechnology

Table 2 (Continued)
Fatty acid a
Species/source b
Fatty acids in
storage lipids
(wt %) c
20:1 �5 Meadowfoam seed 66.6
20:1 �11 Rapeseed (high erucic) 3–15
20:1 �11,14-OH Lesquerella grandiflora seed 54
22:1 �13 Crambe abyssinica seed 55.7
Rapeseed (high erucic) 5–60
Mustard (Brassica carinata) seed 22–50
22:1 �5 Meadowfoam seed 12
22:2 �5,13 Meadowfoam seed 18
24:1 �15 Honesty seed 24.0
a
Fatty acid species are defined as indicated in footnote 1 in Sec. II.
b
If not noted in this table, species identification appears in text upon the first mention of plant species.
c
Values are either ranges or maximal values reported in the literature.
Source Refs. 24–28.
relative to functional lipids, because of the lack of any known specific structurefunction
role for the former in plant tissues (15,23). In addition, while functional
lipids typically comprise less than 1% of weight of the plant tissue, storage triacylglycerols
can reach up to 66% by weight of the oil-bearing plant tissue (20).
The great diversity in lipid composition of some oil-bearing plants is accentuated
by the tendency of some species to accumulate storage triacylglycerol that is
as much as 90% pure in a single fatty acid (Table 2) (24–28)]. Since functional and
physical properties of lipids in foods are directly related to the chain length and
degree of unsaturation of the constitutive fatty acids, selection of an appropriate lipid
for a specific food system can be based, in part, on fatty acid composition. Thus, if
the needs for a particular application of lipids in food call for properties representative
of a specific fatty acid of 8–22 acyl carbons and up to three double bonds,
chances are there is a plant species that deposits triacylglycerols highly enriched in
that particular fatty acid. If not, or if the particular plant species does not lend itself
to organized agriculture for oil production, then the trait that provides this fatty acid
is subject to transfer into a species that can be commercially cultivated.
The genus Cuphea is of particular interest, since several species accumulate
various medium chain length fatty acids in storage triacylglycerols, and these lipids
are of interest from a nutritional perspective (29,30) as well as having potential to
supplement or substitute for tropical oils (27). Lipids in Cuphea spp. range from
16% to 42% by weight of seed (27). Other plant species accumulate storage triacylglycerols
enriched in fatty acids that either have unusual patterns or positions of
unsaturation, or are oxygenated (20,24,26). Many of these species have potential for
industrial (nonfood) uses in oleochemical industries, but others are considered to
have potential applications in products that are capable of promoting health in humans
(31,32), and thus, have relevance to the anticipated development of nutraceuticals.
From an academic viewpoint, the genetic diversity that creates the chemotaxonomy
among members of the plant kingdom, as illustrated in Table 2, provides the
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