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Fatty acid composition of fruits of two forms of Serenoa repens

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Chemistry of Natural Compounds Aims and scope

Extracts of saw palmetto (Serenoa repens) fruits are used widely in the treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). This study presents an analysis of the fatty acid content of saw palmetto fruits from both the yellow-green and the less-distributed waxy blue-green forms growing in the Rockdale Pineland Preserve in Miami-Dade County, Florida. Extracts of the fruits were analyzed by GC and GC/MS both before and after treatment with diazomethane. All the samples had a similar composition dominated by oleic acid (40%) and lauric acid (22%), with minor amounts of C6-C18 free fatty acids and their naturally occurring methyl and ethyl esters. Fatty acid methyl and ethyl esters were quantified for the first time. Neither qualitatively nor quantitatively significant differences could be found in the fatty acid composition of the fruits from yellow-green and blue-green plants.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biological Sciences, Florida International University, Miami, Florida, USA, 33199

    Horacio A. Priestap, Pat Houle & Bradley C. Bennett

  2. Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Florida International University, Miami, Florida, 33199, USA

    J. Martin E. Quirke

Authors
  1. Horacio A. Priestap
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  2. J. Martin E. Quirke
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  3. Pat Houle
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  4. Bradley C. Bennett
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Horacio A. Priestap.

Additional information

Published in Khimiya Prirodnykh Soedinenii, No. 4, pp. 456–458, July–August, 2011.

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Priestap, H.A., Quirke, J.M.E., Houle, P. et al. Fatty acid composition of fruits of two forms of Serenoa repens . Chem Nat Compd 47, 511 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10600-011-9983-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10600-011-9983-4

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