Fatty acid composition of rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis L.) leaves

Abstract

Since ancient times, aromatic herbs and spices have been added to different types of foods to improve the flavour and sensory properties. Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis L.) is a perennial herb that belongs to Lamiaceae family. It is used as a food flavouring agent and is also well known medicinally for its powerful antimutagenic, antibacterial and chemopreventive properties. Additionally, it has been demonstrated that the plant exhibits antioxidant activity. The leaves of rosemary as well as other wild edible plants used for culinary purposes give low yields of oil, but this oil is a rich source of essential fatty acids, such as a-linolenic acid (18:3n-3) and linoleic acid (18:2n-6). Linolenic acid and fatty acids of n-3 and n-6 series play an important role in the modulation of human metabolism. In this study, the qualitative and quantitative composition of leaf lipids of rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis L.) grown in Serbia has been investigated. Gas chromatography - mass spectrometric analyses showed major fatty acids to be a-linolenic, linoleic and palmitic acids of which contents were within the ranges of 32.4-42.0; 21.3-27.9 and 12.5-17.1% of the total fatty acids, respectively. Results showed that rosemary is rich source of essential fatty acids (18:3n-3 and 18:2n-6), with favourable n-6/n-3 ratio.