Investigation of Unsaturated Fatty Acids and Antioxidant Activity of Desert Truffles Picoa lefebvrei from Iran

Fatty acids, especially the unsaturated fatty acids (USFAs), are important as nutritional substances and metabolites in living organisms. Many kinds of fatty acids play an important role in the regulation of a variety of physiological and biological functions. Chemical characteristics, fatty acid composition and antioxidant activity of Picoa lefebvrei truffle oil were evaluated in this study. The hexane extract of the truffle Picoa lefebvrei, which was collected from northwestern Iran, was obtained by extraction in a Soxhlet apparatus. The fatty acids were converted to methyl esters and determined by GC and GC/MS systems. The main components were 9,12-octadecadienoic acid (ω-6) (41.03 %), 9-octadecenoic acid (ω-9) (34.35%) and hexadecanoic acid (palmitic acid) (10.82%). The hexane extract from the Picoa lefebvrei truffle detected as an important source of unsaturated fatty acids (75.38%). The antioxidant activity of the extract was evaluated by 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) method. The results indicate the methanolic extract of this desert truffle possess considerable antioxidant activity.