Horse chestnut (Aesculus hippocastanum L.) seed fatty acids, flavonoids and heavy metals plasticity to different urban environments

Abstract

Horse chestnut (Aesculus hippocastanum L.) is a deciduous tree which is widely used on urban green spaces in Serbia. Also, the seed of horse chestnut is an important raw material in pharmaceutical industry, owing to its medicinal properties. In this study, the content of fatty acids, flavonoids, aescin and heavy metals in seeds of 11 horse chestnut genotypes growing in urban conditions was investigated. A total of 16 fatty acids were identified. Unsaturated fatty acids in seed samples were the most abundat. Among the saturated fatty acids, palmitic acid was the dominant one, with a total average content of 8.12%. Oleic acid, with the total average content of 53.46%, was the most abundant unsaturated fatty acid. The results of this study indicated the presence of the following flavonoids: quercetin, kaempferol and rutin. Rutin was the most abundant, averagely contributing with 6.071 μg/g to the total quantified polyphenolics in all samples. The total aescin content ranged from 0.82% to 4.16%. Fruits of park and street trees from small- and middle-sized cities can be used in pharmaceutical industry as raw material. Differences between different urban site categories and localities were detected, which indicates the biochemical plasticity of the seeds to urban morphology.