The significance of tocopherols as chemotaxonomic markers and their relatio
nship with oil content and fatty acid profile was investigated in a collect
ion of 91 species of the family Brassicaceae. Total tocopherols content ran
ged from 68 mg kg(-1) oil in Diplotaxis viminea to 2479 mg kg(-1) oil in Sc
hivereckia doerfleri. The collection also showed wide variability for tocop
herol composition. The average tocopherol profile consisted of 65.4% gamma-
, 28.7% alpha-, 5.1% delta- and 0.89/0 beta-tocopherol. Individual tocopher
ols were found to have great taxonomic value in the Brassicaceae. (C) 1999
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