FATTY ACIDS 



The naturally occurring fatty acids, at least those 

 to be found among the higher plants , provide an 

 apparent mild paradox, insofar as their systematic 

 implications are concerned. For example, Hilditch 

 (1956), in his comprehensive treatment of the 

 chemistry and distribution of natural fats, makes 

 the following statement: 



The fatty (glyceride) compounds of seeds are 

 specific and closely related to the families in which 

 the parent plants have been grouped by botanists. 

 It is, indeed, not an exaggeration to say that the 

 component acids of seed fats could themselves be 

 made the basis of a system of classification of 

 plants. 



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