Kosakowska O., Węglarz Z., Przybył J.L.

The purpose of the present work was to determine the genetic and chemical variability of evening primrose (Oenothera biennis) growing wild in the eastern area of Poland. Application of RAPD method allowed to determine the genetic distance between the investigated populations. The GC analysis indicated the presence of five fatty acids (palmitic, stearic, oleic, linolic and γ-linolenic). The linolic acids was the dominant. As a result of HPLC five sterols (cholesterol, brassicasterol, stigmasterol, campesterol and sitosterol) and four phenolic acids (caffeic, siringic, ellagic and chlorogenic) were identified. Seeds of investigated populations differed in the content of sitosterol, the most pharmacologically active sterol. The results show that investigated populations of evening primrose differed significantly on the molecular and chemical level, but there is no clear correlation between genetic and chemical diversity.

Key words: sterols, fatty acids, phenolic acids, wild growing