The effect of some environmental factors on the quantity and quality of Silymarin and seed oil of Silybum marianum L.

In this study, examines oil percentage and fatty acid composition of Silybum marianum seeds were determined in habitats located in the west of Mazandaran province at different elevations and soil physiochemical properties. After identifying Silybum marianum shrubs in elevation classes of the study area, seeds were sampled using systematic random method and along a 100 m transect at 30 m intervals from three points. After the establishment of transects, in order to study soil physiochemical properties and their relationships with the quantity and quality of fatty acids and oil, three plots were placed in each site and as the number of plant samples, 18 soil samples were taken from the depth of 30 cm and around the root of the plant. Hexane solvent and Soxhlet were used to determine oil content. Identifying fatty acid compositions and Silymarin extraction were done using gas chromatography spectrometer (GC/MS) and methanol solvent in ultrasonic bath, respectively. Based on the results, the highest amount of oil and Silymarin were obtained from plains and mountainous regions, respectively. According to the results, unlike Silymarin, habitat did not have a significant effect on oil content, also the highest amount of oil and Silymarin were obtained from plains and mountainous regions, respectively. Considering the significant effect of habitat on the quality of oil, Oleic acid showed significant negative response to habitat. Soil organic matter and calcium carbonate also had negative inverse relationships with elevation. Sand, potassium, phosphorus and nitrogen indicated negative relationship with oil percentage. Elevation had positive relationship with Margaric acid and Linoleic acid, but negative relationship with Oleic acid. There was positive relationship between Palmitic acid and sand, phosphorus and nitrogen. Because the Oleic acid was predominant followed by the Linoleic acid, it can be concluded that Silybum marianum oil is in the Oleic-Linoleic oil group with high nutritional quality, thus cultivation of this oily seed could be an alternative to produce edible oil and reduce the dependence on other countries.