Tabriz University of Medical Sciences Pharmaceutical Sciences 1735-403X 25 1 2019 03 18 Fatty Acid Profile of Roots and Aerial Parts of Ruscus hyrcanus Woronow 78 81 10.15171/PS.2019.12 EN Mir Babak Bahadori https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2556-4024 Solmaz Asnaashari https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6187-309X Hossein Nazemiyeh https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0165-3209 Journal Article 10.15171/PS.2019.12 2018 09 22 2018 11 25 Background: Ruscus specie are used as traditional medicine, food, and foliage. The aim of this work is the determination of fatty acid composition of Ruscus hyrcanus as a native medicinal plant of Iran for the first time together with comparison of different esterification methods. Methods: Two different esterification methods were used for preparation of esterified fatty acids from different extracts of underground and aerial parts of the herb. GC/MS analysis were used for identification and quantification of fatty acids. Finally, the results were compared. Results: Findings showed that R. hyrcanus is rich in essential fatty acids such as linoleic acid (13-25%) and linolenic acid (23-44%). Also, oil samples contain remarkable amount of palmitic acid (19-57%). Conclusion: The results showed that R. hyrcanus could be considered as a source of essential fatty acids. Also, it could be concluded that a simple esterification method with methanolic KOH and 2 min vortex is suitable for fatty acid analysis of Ruscus species.