[Oil seeds from the American tropics]

The fatty acid composition of the oil content of seeds from native fruits of the American Tropics was analyzed. The species studied were maracuyá (Passiflora edulis), morro (Crescentia alata), zapote (Calocarpum mammosum) and icaco (Chrysobalanus icaco). The findings for maracuyá are in agreement with the data found in the literature. There is no information pertaining to the fatty acid composition of the seed oil for the other species. Icaco oil showed 4 unusual signals in its GC profile, two of which were identified as geometric isomers of licanic acid. The structure of parinaric acid was assigned to the second pair.