The seed oil from Parthenocissus tricuspidata Planch has been studied.
The dark-colored oil extracted with ether from the air-dried seeds was bleached with acid clay and then treated with acetone. The acetone-soluble oil was analyzed for its characteristics (Table-1), and the fatty acid composition was determined by GLC (Table-2). Linoleic acid constituted as high as 76.6% of the total fatty acids.
The unsaponifiable matter, a light yellow solid, was separated into nine fractions by liquid chromatography on silicic acid (Table-4), and each fraction was analyzed by IR spectrometry and GLC. The main individual components identified were as follows : Nonacosane (49.8%) and heptacosane (34.2%) among hydrocarbons ; tetracosanol (32.2%) and tricosanol (28.3%) among aliphatic alcohols, a large proportion of the odd homologue (C₂₃) being worth notice ; β-sitosterol accompained by a small amount of two other sterols, campesterol and stigmasterol, in the sterol fraction.