A new source of omega-3 and gamma tocopherol: Fig (Ficus carica L.) seed oil

Abstract

Essential fatty acids are oils which cannot be synthesized in the human body and which must be acquired from elsewhere. The omega-3 family is a wide group, the most important and commonest of which are alpha-linoleic acid, stearidonic acid, eicosatetraenoic acid, eicosapentaenoic acid, and docosahexaenoic asit. On the orther side, vitamin E is one of the most important antioxidants in humans. Vitamin E forms two main families, alpha, beta, gamma and delta tocopherol, and tocotrienol. For this study, fig seeds separated and oils obtained by cold press from the seeds of Ficus carica has been analyzed. Obtained oil acid content was analyzed by the gas chromatography with flame-ionization detection method. The High-Performance Chromatography Fluorescence Detector (HPLC-FLD) method was used to measure levels of vitamin E tocopherol. According to the results of the analysis, Ficus carica seed oil was seen to be rich in linolenic acid (omega-3, 40,25%), linoleic acid (omega-6, 31,28%), and oleic acid (omega-9, 17,0%) and it contained smaller amounts of palmitic acid, and other oils in trace amounts. Aflatoxin was not detected in the obteined seed oil. Ficuscarica seed oil was found to have a high content of gamma tocopherol proportion (4090,70 ± 383,30 mg/kg) is compared with that of other edible oil sources.