Seeds of Trichosanthes kirilowii, an Energy-Rich Diet

Abstract

The kernels of Trichosanthes kirilowii seeds contain a green oil which makes up for 62% of their dry matter. This oil consists up to 95% of triglycerides, 2% of glycolipids, 1.3% of phospholipids and 1.8% of chlorophylls. As fatty acid components the triglycerides, glycolipids and phospholipids contain the unsaturated fatty acids linoleic and oleic acid and the saturated palmitic acid. In the triglycerides 19% of the C_18:3 acid occur with the configuration Δ⁹ cis, Δ¹¹ trans. Δ¹³ cis. This acid is called trichosanic acid and is absent in glycolipids and phospholipids which contain instead another C _18:3 fatty acid, which has conjugated double bounds and occurs with an amount of 21% and 3%, respectively. Typically, these oil seeds contain in addition up to 30% of their dry matter proteins and up to 2.5% mono- and oligosaccharides. The monosaccharides consist of rhamnose, galactose and glucose and the oligosaccharides represent a mixture of tri- and tetrasaccharides.