Fatty acids, sterols and other steroids from seeds of Patagonian Prosopis species

Seeds of Prosopis alpataco, P denudans var denudans, P denudans var patagonica and P denudans var stenocarpa were analysed for fatty acids and sterols. The seed lipids contained a relatively large proportion of unsaturated fatty acids, with linoleic and oleic acids being predominant. (beta)Sitosterol was the major steroid in all species studied. In P alpataco seeds, stigmasta-1,3,5-triene and stigmasta-4,6-dien-3-one were also identified.