Fatty acid profiles of leaves of nine edible wild plants: An Australian study

Abstract

Nine species (Amaranthus viridis L., Atriplex nummularia L., Chenopodium album L., Plantago major L., Portulaca oleracea L., Solarium nigrum L., Sonchus oleraceus L., Stellaria media L. and Taraxacum officinale W.) of edible wild plants grown in Australia were examined for their fatty acid composition by gas chromatography. The total fatty acid contents in the young leaves of these species ranged from 8.75 to 29.12 mg/g of dry matter, and were predominantly comprised of the alpha-linolenic acid (4.78 to 19.88 mg/g). These plants did not contain any of the longer-chain omega-3 fatty acids, namely eicosapentaenoic acid, docosahexaenoic acid or docosapentaenoic acid.