Characterization of High Biomass Plant Species for TAGs In the Leaves and Optimization of Their Extraction.

In plants, lipids are primarily stored in the form of triacylglycerols (TAG). Seed oil, the main source of TAG, is the common source of feedstock for biofuel production. In various plant species, it has been identified that other plant tissues such as leaves, stems, and pollen store TAG in mesophyll tissues. Different studies have been proposed to increase the oil quantity in these tissues through regulation of oil synthesis pathway. We hypothesize that TAG in leaves could be used as a feedstock for biofuel production. In a preliminary study, three species from asteraceae and one species from apocynaceae family that are adapted to different climatic regions and are tolerant to abiotic stresses such as drought and heat were studied.

  The preliminary results showed that methanol was the best solvent for total lipid extraction followed by ethanol and chloroform-methanol mixture (2:1). Other extraction parameter such as temperature and pressure does seem to influence the amount of total lipid extracted. Temperature at 105º C and a pressure of 1000psi gave higher amount of total lipid.  Thin layer chromatography (TLC) analyses revealed the presence of TAG in the plant extracts and gas chromatography (GC) was used to determine the fatty acids in the sample. The above results indicate that leaves contain TAG, but the concentrations of TAG and total oil extracted from the leaves of these species will be reported.