Fatty acid compositions of seed oils of Haematostaphis barteri and Ximenia americana.

The fatty acid compositions of the seed oils of Haematostaphis barteri (blood plum) and Ximenia americana (Wild olive) plants were determined by the Gas Chromatography Mass Spectroscopy (GC-MS) technique. H. barteri contained six fatty acids with oleic (69.35%) and stearic (15.40%) the most abundant unsaturated and saturated fatty acids, respectively. Unsaturated higher fatty acids, namely Eicosadienoic (6.92%) and Erucic acid (2.74%) were detected and the total unsaturation for the oil was 79.01%. For X. americana, 10 fatty acids were identified of which seven were unsaturated yielding a total unsaturation of 92.42%. The oil contained essential fatty acids that is, Linoleic (1.34%), Linolenic (10.31%), Arachidonic (0.60%) and varying levels of unsaturated higher fatty acids, namely, Eicosatrienoic (3.39%), Erucic (3.46%) and Nervonic (1.23%) acids. The level of Oleic acid (72.09%) in the oil was close to the value for H. barteri.