A Comparative Physico-chemical Analysis of Acer platanoides and Acer pseudoplatanus Seed Oils

In order to find new sources of gamma-linolenic acid we investigated the seed oils obtained from two Sapindaceae species - Acer platanoides L. (Norway maple) and Acer pseudoplatanus L. (sycamore maple). These species are widespread in the natural flora of many European countries. The seed oil content (3.30 - 4.89% and 5.12 - 6.97%, respectively) and the physico-chemical parameters of the oils were established by official methods. The fatty acid and phytosterol profiles were determined by GC-MS. Linoleic acid was the major fatty acid (75.216%; 47.081%) and gamma-linolenic acid (GLA) was found to be present in both seed oils in small percentages (3.275%; 2.502%). The seed oil of sycamore maple contains stigmasterol (1.652%) and beta-sitosterol (1.985%), while the seed oil of Norway maple contains stigmasterol (4.489%), betasitosterol (7.820%) and squalene (2.621%). Despite of the small percentage of gamma-linolenic acid of these seed oils, they could constitute a good source of GLA due to the high production of seeds and their widespread occurrence.