GC-MS and PCA Analysis of Fatty Acid Profile in Various Ilex Species

Natural compounds are important source of desired biological activity which helps to improve nutritional status and brings many health benefits. <i>Ilex paraguariensis</i> St. Hill. which belongs to the family <i>Aquifoliaceae</i> is a plant rich in bioactive substances (polyphenols, saponins, alkaloids) with therapeutic potential including hepatic and digestive disorders, arthritis, rheumatism, and other inflammatory diseases, obesity, hypertension, hypercholesterolemia. In terms of phytochemical research <i>I</i>. <i>paraguariensis</i> has been the subject of most intensive investigations among <i>Ilex</i> species. Therefore, we concentrated on other available <i>Ilex</i> varieties and focused on the content of fatty acids of these shrubs. The fatty acid compounds present in <i>Ilex</i> sp. samples were analyzed by GC-MS. 27 different fatty acids were identified in the extracts. The results showed that many constituents with significant commercial or medicinal importance were present in high concentrations. The primary component in all samples was α linolenic acid(18:3 Δ9,12,15). Differences of this component concentration were observed between cultivars and extensively analyzed by PCA, one- way ANOVA and Kruskal-Wallis ANOVA. Significant correlations between compound concentrations were reported.