Fatty acid composition of underutilized corms, rhizomes and tubers

Abstract

With escalating populace pressure and fast exhaustion of natural resources, it has become extremely vital to diversify the present time agriculture with the cultivation of some wild varieties of tubers, rhizomes and corms in order to meet various human nutrient needs. However, information regarding fatty acid composition is inadequate. The purpose of the present study was to examine the fatty acid composition of six samples of wild corms (Alocasia macrorrhiza, Amorphophallus paeoniifolius var. campanulata, A. sylvaticus, Colocasia esculenta, Xanthosoma sagittifolium, X. violaceum two species of rhizomes (Canna indica and Maranta arundinacea) and three species of tubers (Asparagus racemosus, Nymphaea pubescens and N. rubra) in order to assess the nutritional and biochemical significance. The total lipid was extracted from the corms, rhizomes and tubers using chloroform and methanol mixture in the ratio of 2:1 (w/v). Methyl esters were prepared from the lipids. Fatty acid analysis was performed by gas chromatography. Among the investigated species, corm of X. sagittifolium registered the highest amount of palmitic acid. Similarly, tubers of A. racemosus exhibited the highest amount of linoleic acid. The present investigation demonstrated that the corms, rhizomes and tubers act as a good source of fatty acid.