Oil content, lipid profiling and oxidative stability of "sefri" Moroccan pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) seed oil

Abstract

The aim of this study was to determine the chemical composition (fatty acids, tocopherols, and sterols) and evaluate the oxidative stability of Moroccan pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) seed oil. The oil content of pomegranate seed was 22.63 g/100g of dry weight. The fatty acid composition showed a dominance of conjugated linolenic acids (CLnAs) (86.96 g/100g). The most dominant fatty acid was punicic acid (75.1 g/100g), followed by catalpic acid (6.7 g/100g) and linoleic acid with amounts of 4.11 g/100g. The seed oil only contained a low level of saturated fatty acids with palmitic (2.64 g/100g) and stearic acids (1.73 g/100g) as main saturated fatty acids. The sterol marker, β-sitosterol, accounted for 404.59 mg/100g of the total sterol content in the seed oil. Total tocopherol content in seed oil was 332.44 mg/100g. γ-tocopherol (190.47 mg/100g oil) is the major constituent, followed by α-tocopherol (74.62 mg/100g oil) and δ-tocopherol (53.3 mg/100g oil). The induction time calculated by the Rancimat accelerated method was found to be of 3.6 h at 120 °C. In terms of oil, pomegranate seed oil may be considered as a valuable source for new multipurpose products with industrial, cosmetic and pharmaceutical uses.