Fatty Acid Profile of Roots and Aerial Parts of Ruscus hyrcanus Woronow

Background: Ruscusspecie are used as traditional medicine, food, and foliage. The aim of this work is the determination of fatty acidcomposition of Ruscushyrcanus as a native medicinal plant of Iran for the first time together with comparison of different esterification methods. Methods: Two different esterification methods were used for preparation of esterified fatty acidsfrom different extracts of underground and aerial parts of the herb. GC/MS analysis were used for identification and quantification of fatty acids. Finally, the results were compared. Results: Findings showed that R. hyrcanus is rich in essential fatty acidssuch as linoleic acid (13-25%) and linolenic acid(23-44%). Also, oil samples contain remarkable amount of palmitic acid(19-57%). Conclusion: The results showed that R. hyrcanus could be considered as a source of essential fatty acids. Also, it could be concluded that a simple esterification method with methanolic KOH and 2 min vortex is suitable for fatty acidanalysis of Ruscusspecies.