Das jahresperiodische Verhalten der Fettsäuren in Rinden und Blättern von Pinus halepensis Mill. und Schinus molle L.

Abstract

The fatty acid composition of the saponifiable lipids from barks and leaves of Pinus halepensis and of Schinus molle was investigated throughout the period of a year by gas liquid chromatography. Both species showed a great variety of different fatty acids of saponifiable lipids. In barks of Pinus, the contents of stearic, oleic and linoleic acids are higher during late winter and the growth period, whereas the percentage of behenic, lignocerinic, octadecatetraenoic, eicosatrienoic, and eicosatetraenoic acids was larger during the summer drought period and the autumn months. In the needles of Pinus, the contents of linolenic acid and of the short-chain acids (caprinic and laurinic) showed maxima during the winter and the growth period. In barks of Schinus we found a larger fraction of linolenic, erucic, and lignocerinic acids during the same period; in the leaves of this species linoleic, linolenic, behenic, and lignocerinic acids accumulated during the winter. There is no unequivocal influence of summer-drought on fatty acid pattern. In all species of linoleic and linolenic acids the highest percentage is shown during the humid winter and growth periods, which seems to reflect the metabolic activity of the investigated tissues.