Characteristics and composition of melon seed oil

Abstract

Dried melon seeds (Citrullus colocynthis L) of the family Cucurbitaceae were investigated for nutritional quality and the oil seed characteristics. These melon seeds, on a dry weight basis, consisted of 52.3% of test and 47.7% of kernel. The moisture content in melon seeds was 54.5% and the mineral constituents were also determined. The oil content of seeds was very high ranging from 22.1-53.5%, due to the presence of the hulls, 22% from the seeds and 53% of the kernel, and also the crude protein content was so high as the 21.8% of the seeds. Standard procedures were applied to determine the fatty acids composition of the seed oil. The fatty acid profiles of the seed oil showed an unsaturated fatty acid content of 77.4% and the high content of 63.2% of PUFA. The predominant fatty acid was linoleic (18:2) acid in 62.2%. The presence of other fatty acids ranged in 10-14% for oleic (18:1) stearic (18:0) and palmitic (16:0) acids, respectively. Furthermore, the physical and chemical characteristics of the seed oil was also determined as iodine, acid, saponification, peroxide values and specific gravity.Ispitane su fizicko-hemijske karakteristike i odredjen je sastav osusenog semena i ulja semena domace lubenice (Citrullus colocynthis L) familije Cucurbitaceae. Prema dostupnoj literaturi, nema podataka o medicinskoj vrednosti semena, ali je poznato da se brasno koristi u kulinarstvu (kao zamena za meso), jer sadrzi znacajne kolicine proteina. Ulje semena lubenice se tradicionalno primenjuje u kulinarstvu za kuvanje i pecenje u zemljama Srednje Amerike i Afrike. Hemijske karakteristike semena pokazuju visok sadrzaj proteina 21,8%, posebno u jezgru 38,2%, kao i sadrzaj ulja i to 22,1% u semenu i 53,5% u jezgru. Ulje semena je karakteristicne boje cilibara, lesnik arome i stabilno je na sobnoj temperaturi. Standardnim AOCS metodama odredjene su fizicko-hemijske karakteristike ulja: specificna masa (0,914 kg/dm3), indeks refrakcije (1,4733 na 20?C), kiselinski broj 1,0mgKOH/g)), saponifikacioni broj (188 mgKOH/g), jodni broj (119 g/100g) peroksidni broj (7,9 mmolO2/kg), slobodne masne kiseline (0,52 % naeleinsku kiselinu) i estarski broj (187). Gasnom hromatografijom odredjen je sastav masnih kiselina. Dokazan je relativno visok sadrzaj nezasicenih masnih kiselina (77,4%), pri cemu je najvise prisutna linolna kiselina (62,2%). Visok sadrzaj linolne kiseline je u saglasnosti sa dosadasnjim ispitivanjima ovog ulja na uzorcima lubenice iz Amerike i Africke regije. Dokazan je umeren sadrzaj zasicenih masnih kiselina, uglavnom palmitinske i stearinske kiseline. Stoga, moze se preporuciti upotreba brasna semena, kao stocne hrane i ulja semena u kulinarstvu usled svoje specificne lesnik arome.