Characterization of Lipophilic Nutraceutical Compounds in Seeds and Leaves of Perilla frutescens

Perilla frutescens, which comprises var. frutescens and var. crispa, has been cultivated traditionally in Asian countries as an edible oil, leaf vegetable, and medicinal crop. To evaluate the lipophilic phytonutrient properties of P. frutescens, we selected 54 Perilla accessions [19 landraces of var. frutescens (FL), 22 weedy type var. frutescens (FW), 9 weedy type var. crispa (CW), 2 cultivars of var. frutescens widely cultivated for seed oil (FCS), and 2 cultivars of var. frutescens cultivated as a leaf vegetable (FCL)] and analyzed their seeds and leaves for vitamin E, squalene, and phytosterols. Among the four vitamin E isomers analyzed, gamma-tocopherol was the major form of vitamin E in seeds, whereas cc-tocopherol was the major form in leaves of all types of P. frutescens. The highest total vitamin E content in seeds was present in FL (170.0 mg.kg(-1)), whereas that in leaves was highest in FCL (358.1 mg.kg(-1)). The highest levels of squalene in seeds and leaves were in FL (65.5 mg.kg(-1)) and CW (719.3 mg.kg(-1)), respectively. Among the three phytosterols, beta-sitosterol occurred in the highest amount in both leaves and seeds of all of the crop types. Phytonutrient contents were comparatively higher in leaves than in seeds of all crop types. All of these results suggest that the consumption of leaves and seeds of Perilla crops could be beneficial to human health, as Perilla possesses considerable amounts of various lipophilic compounds.