Fatty acid composition and antibacterial potential of Cassia tora (leaves and stem) collected from different geographic areas of India

Shipra Shukla ^a, Satisha Hegde ^b, Anil Kumar ^a, Gaurav Chaudhary ^c, Shri Krishna Tewari ^a, Dalip Kumar Upreti ^d, Mahesh Pal ^a,*

^a Phytochemistry Division, Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR), National Botanical Research Institute, Lucknow 226 001, India

^b Microbiology and Molecular Biology Division, Regional Medical Research Centre, Indian Council of Medical Research, Belagavi, Karnataka 590010, India

^c Department of Biotechnology, Institute of Engineering Technology, Mangalayatan University, Aligarh 202145, India

^d Plant Diversity, Systematics and Herbarium Division, Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR), National Botanical Research Institute, Lucknow 226001, India

The comparative analysis of the fatty acid composition of Cassia tora (leaves and stem) was determined using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry. Twenty-seven fatty acids were identified in C. tora (leaves and stem) which was collected from three different geographical areas of India: Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh), Nainital (Uttarakhand), and Bhavnagar (Gujarat), coded as CT-1, CT-2, and CT-3, respectively. The gas chromatography–mass spectrometry analysis showed the presence of various saturated and unsaturated fatty acids. The major fatty acids found were palmitic acid, linoleic acid, linolenic acid, margaric acid, melissic acid, and behenic acid. The highest amounts of saturated fatty acids were found in leaves of C. tora collected from Bhavnagar (Gujarat) (60.7% ± 0.5%). Thus, the study reveals that C. tora has a major amount of nutritionally important fatty acids, along with significant antimicrobial potential. Fatty acids play a significant role in the development of fat products with enhanced nutritional value and clinical application. Remarkable differences were found in the present study between fatty acid profiles of C. tora collected from different locations in India. To the best of our knowledge there is no previously reported comparative study of the fatty acids of C. tora.