EN
Rose hips are a valuable source of many pharmacologically active compounds and they also contain nutrients, including high quality fatty oil. The aim of the study was to determine the variability in the content of oil and main fatty acids in hips of all native rose species of the section Caninae. An attempt was also made to evaluate the taxonomic value of the compounds under consideration. In the investigations, 48 samples representing 11 taxa were used. These species were as follows: Rosa agrestis Savi, R. canina L., R. dumalis Bechst., R. inodora Fries, R. marginata Wallr. (= R. jundzillii Besser), R. micrantha Borrer ex Sm. in Sowerby, R. rubiginosa L., R. sherardii Davies, R. tomentosa Sm., R. villosa L. and R. zalana Wiesb. The fatty oil was extracted with n-hexane in a Soxhlet apparatus. The fatty acid profile was determined by gas chromatography (GC-FID). The obtained results show a high range of differentiation in the levels of the investigated compounds in rose hips. The average oil content was from 2.9% in R. tomentosa to 5.9% in R. sherardii. The oil was characterized by a high average content of polyunsaturated fatty acids – PUFA (59.5%), and a low level of erucic acid (0.3%). The erucic acid content was strongly negatively correlated with the amount of linoleic acid. Cluster analysis of the levels of oils, fatty acids and relative ratios of fatty acids gave a structure of phytochemical similarity of the roses, which was to some extent consistent with that obtained on the basis of their morphological characters.