Effect of temperature on fatty acid content in Vicia sativa

The experiment was conducted to evaluate the influence of temperature on fatty acid (FA) concentration of common vetch (Vicia sativa L.). The result suggests that the moderate temperature (23/18 °C) greatly increased the concentration of lipids, palmitic acid, stearic acid, arachidic acid, behenic acid, oleic acid, most notably linoleic acid and linolenic acid, but had limited effects on the concentrations of dodecanoic acid and myristic acid. The level of polyunsaturated FA was higher in 23/18 °C regime as well, and was 3.27-fold higher than that in 30/25 °C regime. Furthermore, the content of unsaturated FAs was 38 and 210 % greater in 23/18 °C regime than in 15/10 °C and 30/25 °C regimes, respectively, and this effect is considered to be associated with the change of membrane fluidity, which could help the plant to fight off temperature stress.