## 2 Results and Discussion
These acids are not synthesized in the human body, due to the lack of enzymes required for forming double bonds in the fatty acid chain at a position beyond C-9. In the human body, n-3 and n-6 fatty acids are part of cell membrane phospholipids, and their proportion in tissues mainly depends on the dietary supply. These are also a source of components that are used in the synthesis of biologically active compounds such as prostaglandandins. Essential fatty acids are one of the major building blocks of cells, and are known to exhibit antiarrhythmic [13], anticoagulant [14], antiatherosclerotic [15], and anti-inflammatory [13] effects, and improve vascular endothelial function [15]. In addition to fatty acids, oils from blueberry, cranberry, raspberry, and cuckooflower seeds contain a number of antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antiatherosclerotic, and anti-cancerous substances, including tocochromanols, carotenoids, flavonoids, phytosterols, and phenolic acids [2; 5; 7; 16; 17; 18]. Plant fatty acids, which belong to a group of PUFA, are characterized by high biological activity. Phytosterols are an intriguing group of lipid-like compounds. Among them, \(\beta\)-sitosterol, campesterol, stigmasterol, brassicastrol, \(\Delta\)5-avenasterol, \(\Delta\)7-stigmasterol, and \(\Delta\)7-avenasterol have been reported as important plant oil sterols [19; 20]. In most vegetable oils, sterols are the main unsaponifiables. The average content of these compounds in vegetable oils ranges from 400 to 800 mg/100 g, but there can be significant differences in the content in some oils [3; 21]. As shown in Table 3, cuckooflower is an excellent source of phytosterols (0.71 mg/g campesterol, 0.27 mg/g campestanol, 0.10 mg/g stigmasterol, 0.13 mg/kg brassicastrol, and 1.58 mg/g \(\beta\)-sitosterol). The combined phytosterol content of cress oil was estimated at 14.41 mg/g, which exceeds the typical range of 1-5 mg/g observed in most vegetable oils [22]. Crude commodity vegetable oils found with high phytosterol content were corn (8-22 mg/g) and rapeseed (5-11 mg/g) oils [22]. On the other hand, raspberry, blueberry, and cranberry extracts contained less amount of phytosterols, which include \(\beta\)-sitosterol (2.01, 1.45, and 1.47 mg/g, respectively) and campesterol (at 0.06-0.10 mg/g). [PERSON] et al. [23] found similar phytosterol content in the seeds of wild fruits from Finnish forests. Sitosterol is an important phytosterol that promotes the slow absorption of cholesterol, and thus allows maintaining low levels of total cholesterol in the peripheral blood. Unlike cholesterol, phytosterols exert some positive effects on the human body. They bind bile acids, and reduce total blood cholesterol without affecting the level of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol [24]. Phytosterols have also been reported to inhibit intestinal cancer. They are characterized by anticancer, antioxidant, and cholesterol-reducing properties [17]. In the present study, the content of tocoperhools determined in the tested extracts varied widely. The highest amount of tocoperhools was found in raspberry (223.49 mg/100 g), followed by \(\gamma\)-tocopherol (130.38 mg/100 g), and \(\alpha\)-tocopherol (75.32 mg/100 g). Cress contained a high amount of tocoperhools (112. 44 mg/100 g), with \(\gamma\)-tocopherol and \(\alpha\)-tocopherol estimated at 107.94 and 1.09 mg/100 g, respectively. The level of vitamin E in blueberry was 4.84 mg/100 g, whereas in cranberries, it was only 1.65 mg/100 g.