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Research Article
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Fatty Acid Content and Chemical Composition of Vegetative Parts of Perilla (Perilla frutescens L.) after Different Growth Lengths |
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P.G. Peiretti
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ABSTRACT
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Perilla (Perilla frutescens L.) belonging to the Lamiaceae family, is an edible plant that is frequently used as one of the most popular garnishes and food colorants in some Asian countries and as part of popular and traditional Chinese herbal medicines. The objective of this study was to determine the Fatty Acid (FA) content, chemical composition and Gross Energy (GE) of the plant during the growth cycle. Herbage samples were collected four times at progressive morphological stages from 15 to 70 cm of plant height. The FA profiles in the plant were characterised by three dominant FAs: palmitic acid (C16:0), linoleic acid (C18:2 n-6) and α-linolenic acid (C18:3 n-3), which ranged from 8.5-9.7%, 11.5-12.1% and 52.0-55.5% of the total FA, respectively. The FA pattern in the whole plant during growth only differed for palmitoleic acid (C16:1) and stearic acid (C18:0). The evolution of the whole perilla plant quality during growth was characterised by a progressive increase in the neutral and acid detergent fibre contents, while the crude protein content decreased from the first month after sowing to the last stage. Organic matter and GE were higher at the last stage than at the other stages. The first summer cut of perilla, whose fat fraction is rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids, should be harvested at around two months after sowing, since its nutritional quality deteriorates when cutting is delayed. Further studies are necessary to determine the changes in the other chemical constituents of perilla plant during the growth cycle.
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How
to cite this article:
P.G. Peiretti , 2011. Fatty Acid Content and Chemical Composition of Vegetative Parts of Perilla (Perilla frutescens L.) after Different Growth Lengths. Research Journal of Medicinal Plants, 5: 72-78.
URL: https://scialert.net/abstract/?doi=rjmp.2011.72.78
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INTRODUCTION
Perilla (Perilla frutescens), belonging to the Lamiaceae family, is
an edible plant that is frequently used as one of the most popular garnishes
and food colorants in some Asian countries such as Japan and China (Peng
et al., 2005). The leaves of perilla are used as a garnish for raw
fish in Japan. It is believed that Perilla is used not only as a flavor but
also as an antidote to food poisoning (Kurita and Koike,
1982). Intact leaves are also used as condiments or flavoring agents in
various Korean foods (Shin and Kim, 1994). The leaves
as well as the seeds of perilla are part of popular and traditional Chinese
herbal medicines, which are prescribed for colds and coughs and to promote digestion
(Duke, 1988). Dried red perilla leaves are also used as
soyou in Chinese herbal medicine and it is one of the components of saibokuto,
which is used to treat bronchial asthma (Ueda et al.,
2002).
Longvah and Deosthale (1998) have demonstrated that
perilla seed is a potential source of food, that is rich in fat and protein
of good quality, which be used in both human and animal nutrition. They also
demonstrated that the potential of perilla seed protein can be increased by
dehulling the seeds and then cooking them. Perilla seed is particularly used
in India (Sharma et al., 1989) and in Korea where
the seeds are consumed as flavoring and nutritional sources in combination with
cereals or vegetables after roasting (Shin and Kim, 1994). Perilla seeds and
oil are good source of α-linolenic acid (C18:3 n-3; ALA) and these and
other aspects of their dietary value have been researched (Longvah
and Deosthale, 1991). Perilla oil is widely used as a salad oil dressing
or cooking medium (Shin and Kim, 1994).
Perilla has recently been introduced into Europe, Russia and USA as an oilseed
crop (Nitta et al., 2003).
Terpenoids, phenolics, flavonoids, cyanogenic glycosides and anthocyanins have
been reported as the chemical constituents of perilla, but there has been no
indication concerning the oral pharmacological effects of this plant. The oral
administration of a perilla leaf extract to mice can inhibit the overproduction
of the tumor necrosis factor-a (TNF-a) (Ueda and Yamazaki,
1997) and shows anti-inflammatory and anti-allergic activities (Ueda
and Yamazaki, 2001). Rosmarinic acid (Okuda et al.,
1986) and ALA (Tsuyuki et al., 1978) have
been reported to be anti-inflammatory and anti-allergic substances and luteolin
an anti-inflammatory (Ueda et al., 2002) and antitumor
promoting substance (Ueda et al., 2003) in perilla
leaves and seeds. Perilla leaves have shown to be detoxicant, antitussive, antibiotic
and antipyretic (Liu et al., 2000; Nakamura
et al., 1998) and are also utilized as a folk medicine to treat intestinal
disorders and allergies, particularly in traditional Chinese medical practice
(Nakazawa and Ohsawa, 2000).
Perilla extract appears to be a strong anti-inflammatory agent as it inhibits
mast cell release of histamine (Simpol et al., 1994),
inhibits lipoxygenase activity (Yamamoto et al.,
1998) and is an antioxidant (Lamaison et al.,
1990; Frankel et al., 1996; Tada
et al., 1996).
Among the vegetable oils that are good sources of linoleic acid (C18:2 n-6;
LA), perilla seed oil has the highest ALA content (56%). The consumption of
perilla oil has also been reported to improve learning ability, retinal function,
the suppression of carcinogenesis, metastasis, thrombosis and allergies (Kinsella,
1991) and has shown potential beneficial effects to decrease the circulating
levels of serum cholesterol and triglycerides without toxicity in a short term
animal experiment (Longvah et al., 2000). Many
medical properties, including the antidermatophytic properties of perilla, have
been reported (Honda et al., 1984; Terao
et al., 1991; Hirose et al., 1990;
Duke, 1988).
The objective of this study was to determine the Fatty Acid (FA) profile, chemical composition and Gross Energy (GE) in perilla plants during the growth cycle.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Plant material and environmental conditions: Perilla was obtained from
the Manitoba Seed Expert of Manitoba Inc. (Winnipeg, Canada). The study was
conducted in the Western Po Valley near Cuneo, Italy (latitude 44°N, longitude
7°E). The stands were seeded on 20 May 2006 and no irrigations or fertilisers
were applied after sowing. Herbage samples were collected with edging shears
(0.1 m cutting width) at four progressive morphological stages from vegetative
(plant height 15 cm) to the early flowering stage (plant height 70 cm), on subplots
of 2 m2 randomly located in 3x8 m2 plots with three replicates
cut to a 1 to 2 cm stubble height. The sampling time ranged from June to July
2006. Sampling was not performed on rainy days and was carried out in the morning,
only after the disappearance of dew.
Chemicals: The chemicals used in this study were obtained from Sigma Chemical Co. (St Louis, MO, United States) and from Merck (Darmstadt, Germany).
Fatty acid analysis: Fresh samples of the whole plants were immediately
frozen, then freeze-dried and ground to pass a 1 mm screen. Lipid extraction
was performed on freeze-dried samples according to Hara
and Radin (1978), while the transesterification of the Fas was carried out
according to Christie (1982), with the modifications
described by Chouinard et al. (1999). The FA
methyl esters were then determined by gas chromatography according to Peiretti
et al. (2004).
Chemical analysis: Whole plant samples were immediately dried in a forced-draft
oven to constant weight at 65°C to determine the Dry Matter (DM) content
and were then air equilibrated, ground in a Cyclotec mill (Tecator, Herndon,
VA, USA) to pass a 1 mm screen and stored for later analyses. Dried samples
were analysed for Crude Protein (CP) and Ether Extract (EE) according to the
methods of the Association of Official Analytical Chemists (AOAC,
1990), ash by ignition to 550°C, Acid Detergent Fibre (ADF) and Neutral
Detergent Fibre (NDF) without sodium sulfite and α-amylase, as described
by Van Soest et al. (1991) expressed exclusive
of residual ash. The GE was determined using an adiabatic calorimeter bomb (IKA
C7000, Staufen, Germany).
Statistical analysis: The variability in FA and the herbage chemical
composition of the samples harvested at four stages of maturity were analysed
by one-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) using the Statistical Package for Social
Science (v 11.5, SPSS Inc., Chicago, Illinois, USA) to test the effect of the
growth stage. When the values of F were significant (i.e., p<0.05), the Ryan-Einot-Gabriel-Welsch
range test (Hochberg and Tamhane, 1987) was used to detect
any differences among the means.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Fatty acid profile: The FA analyses disclosed quantitative differences
between the plant stages (Table 1) and a high percentage of
unknown FAs, which ranged from 24.0 to 18.3% of total FA. The FA profile was
characterised by a high percentage of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), which
made up from 64 to 68% of the total FA in the plant during the growth cycle.
The FA profiles in the plant were characterised by three dominant FAs: palmitic
acid (C16:0; PA), LA and ALA, which ranged from 8.5-9.7, 11.5-12.1 and 52.0-55.5%
of the total FA, respectively. The FA pattern in the whole plant during growth
only differed for the palmitoleic acid (C16:1) and stearic acid (SA, C18:0)
contents.
The FA profile in the plant during growth differs from that of the oil in the
seed, which has a similar FA composition to that of linseed oil and contains
about 57-64% of ALA, 14-18% of LA,12-15% of oleic acid (C18:1), 9% of PA and
4% of SA (Shin and Kim, 1994; Longvah et al., 2000).
Mink and Kim (1992) studied the change in lipid composition
during maturation of perilla seed.
Table 1: |
Fatty acid composition (% of total FA) of Perilla frutescens
at four morphological stages |
 |
Within a column, values with different letter differ (p<0.05) |
Table 2: |
Chemical composition (g kg-1 DM) and gross energy
(GE) of Perilla frutescens at four morphological stages and of the
seed |
 |
Within a column, values with different letter differ (p<0.05) |
They found that the content of ether-extractable lipids increased continuously
as the seed matured while the content of triglyceride, an essential component
of ether-extractable lipids, increased rapidly at the beginning of maturation
and ranged from 61.4 to 68.2% in mature seeds (30 days after flowering). The
glycolipids and phospholipids contents were reduced and the amount of the individual
component of glyco-and phospholipids varied irregularly. Ichihara
and Suda (2003) reported the profiles of lipid ccumulation and changes in
the FA composition in developing perilla seeds; they showed that lipids rapidly
accumulated between 15 and 19 days after flowering. Dietary intake of perilla
seed oil containing a large amount of ALA provides various health benefits (Kim
et al., 2007) such as the lowering of the plasma lipid level and
the increase in eicosapentaenoic acid (C20:5n-3) and docosahexaenoic acid (C22:6n-3)
in the hepatic membranes of rats (Kim and Choi, 2001;
Kim et al., 2004).
Crop quality: The evolution of the perilla plant quality at the four different stages of development is reported in Table 2. The DM was highest at the last stage and the perilla plant was characterised by a progressive increase in the NDF and ADF contents, while the organic matter and GE was higher at the last stage than at the other stages. The CP content was highest at the second stage and then decreased with plant aging, while the EE content decreased during the growth cycle. Perilla seeds are higher in DM, OM, CP and GE contents than the plant during the growth cycle, while the EE content was from twentyfold to tenfold more in the seed than in the plant during the growth cycle. The ash content was very low in the seeds, while the NDF and ADF contents of the seed were lower than those of the plant at all the studied stages.
To the best of the researchers knowledge, no studies exist regarding
the chemical composition of perilla plants during growth, but only researches
on the chemical composition of the seeds (Longvah and Deosthale,
1991, 1998). Perilla frutescens has been
evaluated for its nutrient composition and protein quality. It has been found
to be a rich source of protein (17.0%) and fat (51.7%) (Longvah
and Deosthale, 1991). The protein content of whole perilla seed has been
reported to be in the range of 15.7-23.7% (Sharma et
al., 1989). Dehulling increases the protein content of perilla seed
from 17 to 20%. The hull, which makes up 18% of the wholeseed, had 5% of protein.
The defatted perilla wholeseed protein content is 36% and that of perilla kernel
meal is 46% (Longvah and Deosthale, 1998).
CONCLUSION From these results it may be concluded that the nutrient contents of perilla plant depends on the stage of maturity and in order to obtain an optimal compromise between yield and nutritional value, the crop should be harvested at the end of the second month after sowing, since the fibrous fractions and CP contents decrease and the nutritional quality deteriorates when cutting is delayed. Further research is required to determine the evolution of the other chemical constituents of the perilla plant during the growth cycle.
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