CONIFER SEED OILS - DISTRIBUTION OF DELTA-5 ACIDS BETWEEN ALPHA-CHAINAND BETA-CHAIN BY C-13 NUCLEAR-MAGNETIC-RESONANCE SPECTROSCOPY

Nine seed oils from three different conifer families, already examined by gas chromatography and known to contain diene, triene, and tetraen e C-18 and C-20 Delta 5 acids, have been reexamined by high-resolution C-13 nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. The Delta 5 acids are a pparent only in the alpha-chains. This location is independent of chai nlength, double- bond number, and the species considered and is probab ly a general factor of conifer seed oils. The spectra confirm the pres ence of oleic, linoleic, alpha-linolenic, and of Delta 5 acids and giv e quantitative information about (total) n-6, n-3, and Delta 5 acids t hat is in accord with that obtained by gas chromatography.