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New Zealand Plant Fats, Parts II and III
Part II. The Oil of Dysoxylum spectabile Hook.*
[Received by the Editor, November 16, 1959.]
Summary
The oil of Dysoxylum spectabile has been examined and found to be similar to that of Trichilia hirta also in the Meliaceae.
Dysoxylum spectabile Hook., known to the Maoris as “Kohekohe” and to the early settlers as Maori cedar is a handsome tree up to 50 feet in height. It is largely confined to the North Island. The wood provides useful fencing posts, particularly for use in sandy situations. There are numerous indications of the use of this plant in Maori medicine (Brooker and Cooper, 1960), but the oil is not mentioned in this connection.
The fruits of the Kohekohe are about an inch in diameter, and each contains four seed with brilliant scarlet covering. The seeds for this investigation were obtained from the property of Sir Carrick Robertson, on the slopes of Mt. Eden, Auckland. Though collected in the late autumn, no ripe fruit could be found on any of the trees, so the work has been done on oil from unripe fruits. Changes in the fatty oils of plants as the fruits ripen have been reviewed by Kartha and Naryaranan (1956); see also Ruthowski and Makus (1959). In general the oil content increases, but the proportion of unsaturated fatty acids may rise, fall, or remain stationary.
After air drying the seeds had a moisture content of 8.0 per cent, and on extraction with petroleum ether yielded 29.2 per cent of greenish yellow oil with the following analytical values:—
| Iodine value (Wijs) | 82.0 |
| Saponification value | 199.1 |
| Specific gravity | .922 |
| Refractive index nd20 | 1.470 |
| Unsaponifiable matter | 1.5 per cent |
Some of the oil was converted to methyl esters and analysed by gas liquid chromatography at the Fats Research Laboratory, Wellington, by the courtesy of the Director, Dr. F. B. Shorland, with the following results:—
| Moles per cent | |
| Laurate | .05 |
| Myristate | .37 |
| Pentadecanoate | .05 |
| Palmitate | 53.8 |
| Heptadecanoate | .05 |
| Anteisoheptadecanoate | .07 |
| Stearate | 3.00 |
| Palmitoleate | 0.20 |
| Oleate | 1.31 |
| Linoleate | 38.47 |
| Linolenate | 2.63 |
Ignoring the minor constituents this gives the following percentages of the principal fatty acids by weight:—
| Palmitic | 52.0 |
| Stearic | 3.2 |
[Footnote] * The paper on the oil of Titoki (Brooker, 1957) may be taken as Part I of this series.
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| Oleic | 1.4 |
| Linoleic | 40.6 |
| Linolenic | 2.8 |
The oil has some affinity with that of Trichilia hirta or Napahuite, a Mexican tree of the Meliaceae family, having similar saponification and iodine values. The seeds are also covered with a reddish skin. Eckey (1954) reports that a small quantity of the oil is produced in Mexico and used as a hair dressing.
The author wishes to thank Sir Carrick and Lady Robertson and Dr. R. C. Cooper for assistance in collecting and identifying the fruit, and Dr. J. C. Hawke, who carried out the gas-liquid chromatographic analysis.,
References for Part II
Brooker, S. G., 1957. Trans. Royal Soc. N. Z., 84, 935.
— and Cooper, R. C., 1960. Medicinal Plants of New Zealand. Handbook of Auckland Institute and Museum (in the press).
Eckey, E. W., 1954. Vegetable Fats and Oils, pp. 561–2. New York, Reinhold.
Kartha, A. R. S., and Narayanan, R., 1956. Development of Oil in the Ripening Coconut. Indian Journal of Agricultural Science 26, 319–327.
Rutkowski, A. and Makus, Z., 1959. Fette, Seifen, Anstrichm. 61, 532–535.
Part III. The Oil of Tetrapathaea tetrandra Cheesem.
Summary
The oil of New Zealand Passion Fruit has been examined and found to be somewhat akin to that of the common passion fruit (Passiflora edulis). The red colouring matter could not be identified, but is not carotenoid in character.
Tetrapathaea tetrandra Cheesem. (Family Passifloraceae) “New Zealand Passion Fruit”, or “Kohia”, is found from the North Cape to as far south as Banks Peninsula. It is a slender climbing plant reaching a considerable height and bearing bright orange coloured fruits.
The Maoris used the oil for anointing the body and also applied it to chronic sores and chapped nipples (Brooker and Cooper, 1960).
The fruits were collected from the Waitakeres area near Auckland, by Dr. R. C. Cooper. The seeds were air dried in the laboratory to 6.95% moisture and yielded 39.8% of a deep red oil with the following analytical value:—
| Iodine value | 127.5 |
| Saponification value | 188.5 |
| Specific gravity | .922 |
| Refractive index nd20 | 1.475 |
| Unsaponifiable matter | 3.88 per cent |
Some of this oil was converted to methyl esters and analysed by gas-liquid chromatography at the Fats Research Laboratory, Wellington, by courtesy of the Director, Dr. F. B. Shorland.
| Moles per cent | Weight per cent | |
|---|---|---|
| Laurate | trace | – |
| Myristate | 3.03 | 2.52 |
| Palmitate | 14.21 | 13.29 |
| Heptadecanoate | 2.20 | 2.17 |
| Stearate | 1.73 | 1.75 |
| Palmitoleate | 1.73 | 1.58 |
| Oleate | 22.00 | 22.56 |
| Linoleate | 52.90 | 54.08 |
| Linolenate | 2.20 | 2.23 |
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This oil has an unusually high content of unsaponifiable matter and a notable amount of heptadecanoic (margaric) acid.
The only other plant of the Passifloraceae which has been investigated for its fatty oil is the common passion fruit (Passiflora edulis) in the seeds of which Jamieson and McKinney (1934) found 18% of a pale yellow oil of iodine value 140.4 and saponification value 190.4 Like the oil of Tetrapathaea tetrandra, it contained a major amount of linoleic acid. It was considered suitable both for edible and technical purposes.
The deep red colour of this oil is comparable with that of a grade of palm oil rich in carotene, and it was found to give the usual qualitative tests for carotenoids with antimony trichloride (Carr & Price, 1926) and with the three reagents of Levine & Bien (1934). However, the ultraviolet absorption spectra determined at the University of Auckland showed only two peaks at 210 and 235 mμ which do not correspond to any known carotenoids. The pigment is not dissolved out in caustic soda solution and the oil gives no reaction with ferric chloride, indicating the absence of phenols. It is apparent that an unusual colouring matter is present, but we were unable to investigate the matter further.
The author wishes to thank Dr. R. C. Cooper for collecting the fruits; Dr. J. C. Hawke for carrying out the gas-liquid chromatography. Professor L. H. Briggs and Dr. R. C. Cambie for assistance with the ultraviolet spectra, and Miss S. G. O'Hara for carrying out the analytical work.
References for Part III
Brooker, S. G., and Cooper, R. C., 1960. Medicinal Plants of New Zealand. Handbook of Auckland Institute and Museum (in the press).
Carr, F. H. and Price, E. A., 1926. Biochemical Journal 20, 497.
Jamieson, G. S., and McKinney, R. S., 1934. Oil and Soap 11, 193.
Levine, V. E., and Bien, G. E., 1934. Proc. Soc. Exptl. Biol. Med. 31, 581; 32, 335.
S. G. Brooker,
M. Sc.,Abels Limited,
Box 9012,
Newmarket, Auckland, S. E. 1.