The column temperature initially at 160C was increased at the rate of 3C/min and maintained at 226C for 12 min. The individual fatty acids were identified by frequent comparisons with authentic standards and calculated on a Varian 4270 integrator.All fatty acid methyl ester standards and heptadecanoic acid were purchased from Nuchek laboratories. Sol-
vents used were of analytical grade and contained 25 mg butylated hydroxy toluene (BHT) per litre. The fatty acid composition was expressed as percentage of the total oil.