Chemotaxonomy in Nyctagynaceae family: Sterols and fatty acids from the leaves of three Boerhaavia species

Abstract The fatty acids and sterol compositions of the leaf lipid extracts of three senegalese Nyctaginaceae: Boerhaavia diffusa, B. erecta , and B. repens , not screened previously, were determined by capillary GC and GC-MS. Sixteen fatty acids were investigated with a predominance of linolenate, palmitate and linoleate in the three species. Ten sterols were identified by GCMS; in addition to the usually occurring plant sterols, three minor sterols, rarely reported in plant kingdom, wem detected: 5,23 stigmastadienol, 5,24(25) stigmastadienol and stigmastanol.