Lipids of introduced plants Helleborus abchasicus and H. caucasicus

Neutral (NL) and polar (PL) lipids including glyco- (GL) and phospholipids (PhL) were isolated and their contents were determined from seeds and rhizomes with roots (RR) of Helleborus abchasicus and H. caucasicus in two development phases that were introduced into Pyatigorsk Botanical Garden. The amount of NL in subterranean organs increased from flowering to fruiting phases. The PL content in roots of H. abchasicus increased during fruiting and was independent of the vegetation stage in H. caucasicus . GL dominated in RR. The GL and PhL ratio in seeds was practically identical. The fatty-acid composition of all lipid groups in the two development phases of the introduced plants was determined. Subterranean organs and seeds of the two Helleborus species contained alkaloids, a part of which was extracted with the PL. The alkaloid content in RR during fruiting was 0.63% in H. abchasicus ; 0.49%, in seed pulp; 0.26%, in H. caucasicus ; and 0.05% in seed pulp of the starting raw material mass.