Abstract
This work aimed to determine the major and minor compounds of avocado oils. Mono-varietal oils from the Bacon, Fuerte, Hass, and Pinkerton cultivars were obtained by means of an Abencor® system, while commercial oils from Brazil, Chile, Ecuador and New Zealand were purchased locally. The content of triacylglycerols, fatty acids, aliphatic and terpenic alcohols, desmethyl- methyl- and dimethyl-sterols, squalene and tocopherols were determined. The main triacylglycerols were those with ECN48. In addition, the oleic, palmitic and linoleic acids prevailed. Desmethyl-sterols were the principal minor compounds. Low amounts of aliphatic and terpenic alcohols were also found. Squalene concentrations were higher in Bacon, Fuerte and Pinkerton oils than in the other oils. The most abundant tocopherol was α-tocopherol. Partial least squares discriminant analysis made it possible to express the differences among the samples. To summarize, this work brings a different approach to the complete characterization of avocado oil.
Highlights
Avocado oil is extracted from the pulp of Persea americana fruits
Studies regarding nutritional effects of avocado oil consumption have been focused on its healthy characteristics, which are mainly related to its high content in monounsaturated fatty acids such as oleic acid (Lerman-Gaber et al, 1994)
The main fatty acid (FA) was oleic acid (C18:1ω9), which reached the highest concentration in the Fuerte cultivar (64.62±0.20%)
Summary
Avocado oil is extracted from the pulp of Persea americana fruits. The oil is stored as a single oil droplet in the idioblast cells, which are dispersed in the mesocarp (pulp). The idioblast wall structure is very complex, and it is basically composed of two cellulose layers separated by a suberin layer (Platt and Thomson, 1992). According to FAO, Mexico is the world’s largest producer of avocados. In 2014, this country produced 1.52 million tons of avocado fruits, around 30% of the world stock (FAOSTAT, 2014). The avocado oil industry grows slowly because it is only a side-industry of the fresh-fruit business
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