Fatty Acid Profile of Fomes inzengae (Agaricomycetes) Basidiocarps Collected in Armenia.

The gas chromatography (GC) was used for quantitative and qualitative analysis of fatty acid (FA) profiles in hexane extracts of seven genetically identified basidiocarps of medicinal polypore fungus Fomes inzengae (Ces. & De Not.) Cooke collected in Ijevan, Aparan and Yerevan floristic regions of Armenia from Acer platanoides, Carpinus betulus, Fagus orientalis, Populus nigra and Salix alba host trees. In total, 25 (14 saturated and 11 unsaturated) from 30 FA were detected. Heneicosanoic, arachidic, tricosanoic, dihomo-γ-linolenicand and eicosapentaenoic FA were not found in studied samples. Four saturated (caproic, myristic, palmitic, stearic) and two unsaturated (oleic and linoleic) FA were present in all samples in more than 5% and may be considered as chemotaxonomic criterion. The palmitic, stearic, oleic and linoleic acids were detected up to 37.76, 22.53, 27.97 and 38.83%, respectively. The total contents of saturated and unsaturated FA were 51.87-70.92% and 30.02-48.51%, while the ratios of unsaturated/saturated and saturated/unsaturated FA 0.4-0.93 and 1.1-2.4, respectively. Among unsaturated FA the MUFA comprise 30.01-46.43%, while PUFA 0-2.08% which is 0-4% of the total content of unsaturated FA. The average total content of saturated and unsaturated FA was 3.93-5.02% and 2.73- 4.41%, respectively, while the range of average total content 8.28-8.53%. From 25 detected FA 19 were present in analyzed basidiocarps. The number of saturated and unsaturated FA was 4-11 and 4-8 with unsaturated/saturated and saturated/unsaturated ratio 0.35-0.8 and 1-1.83, respectively. The saturated FA prevails in F. inzengae basidiocarps. No significant correlation between the total content and occurrence of saturated and unsaturated FA of F. inzengae was found. The revealed differences are possibly related to ageing process of perennial basidiocarps, rather than host tree condition (trunk, stump or living tree) and wood type (soft or hard). No significant difference between quantitative FA profiles of Fomes fomentarius (L.) Fr. from central Europe and F. inzengae from Armenia was revealed. However, the content of oleic and linoleic acids was higher in Armenian samples, while the difference in palmitic and stearic acids content was insignificant. The results will contribute to defining optimal growth conditions to obtain biomass and understand the mechanisms of biochemical transformation of unsaturated into saturated FA during mycelium during mycelium growth and aging. Further assessment of the impact of phyto-geographical distribution and ecological condition on the FA profile in Fomes species are warranted.