Field bordering flower strips as source of lipids

Field bordering flower strips not just only improves the biodiversity but also serves as a source of beneficial compounds. Some of the plants in these strips can be really interesting source of lipids, the oils extracted from their seeds can be important for food, pharmaceutical and cosmetics industries. Six species of plants from flowering strips in Belgium were investigated for their seed oil content. The oil from seeds was extracted by cold extraction technique using
chloroform/methanol in 2:1 ratio as solvent. Oil extraction from seeds of Red Clover (Trifolium pratense), Rough Hawkbit (Leontodon hispidus), Cow Parsley (Anthriscus sylvestris), St John’s Wort (Hypericum perforatum), Common Yarrow (Achillea millefollium) and Birdsfoot Trefoil (Lotus corniculatus) plant species was done on wet weight which came out to be 7.89±0.11%, 11.86±0.07%, 14.78±0.31%, 24.20±0.02%, 20.08±0.15% and 7.04±0.12% respectively. The physicochemical properties of the extracted oils were analyzed. Some of these oils can be of great commercial value.