Variation in free and bound fatty acids in four Varieties of Lathyrus sativus L. Grown in India

The n-hexane extracts of flour samples of four varieties of 100 g Lathyrus sativus seeds were analysed by TLC, GC-FID and GC-MS, and revealed 16, 12, 13 and 13 fatty acids, accounting for 19.59 ± 0.49, 16.97 ± 0.24, 15.38 ± 0.21 and 12.83 ± 0.18 mg free fatty acids in Bio L 212 Ratan, Nirmal B1, WBK-14-7 and WBK-13-1, respectively; whereas 17, 16, 16 and 17 fatty acids represented 1687.07 ± 11.39, 1410.67 ± 13.17, 1253.01 ± 28.54 and 950.37 ± 13.62 mg bound fatty acids in Bio L 212 Ratan, Nirmal B-1, WBK-14-7 and WBK13-1, respectively. Palmitic acid was the predominant free fatty acid in Bio L 212 Ratan, WBK-14-7 and WBK-13-1 seeds; while oleic acid predominated in Nirmal B-1. Linoleic acid was predominant bound fatty acid in Bio L 212 Ratan and Nirmal B-1, accounting for 579.03 ± 7.61 and 541.42 ± 8.47 mg, respectively; whereas á-linolenic acid was predominant in WBK-14-7 (584.22 ± 15.30 mg) and WBK-13-1 (455.49 ± 22.63 mg).