Fatty acid profiles of kukui nut oils over time and from different sources

Abstract

Kukui nut ( Aleurites moluccana) oil is starting to become a source of ingredients for cosmetics preparation. Fatty acid profiles are considered to be important for quality assessment. As part of an effort to grow the kukui nut oil industry, information was needed to determine whether fatty acid profiles of kukui nut oils made 10 years ago have changed over time. Commercial chemical preparation procedures and laboratory analytical methods have been modified. In addition, it was desirable to know whether oils from nuts from different parts of the world and oils subjected to deodorization procedures had similar fatty acid profiles. All kukui nut oils from Polynesian sources (Hawaii, Tonga) had identical fatty acid profiles over a 10-year period. This finding suggests that production practices for obtaining the oil and analytical procedures had not changed significantly over time. One Polynesian oil had a profile that was similar to the kukui nut oils obtained from Indonesia and East Timor. Like deodorized kukui nut oils obtained by steam distillation, these were also different from most of the Polynesian oils in that their linolenic acid (18:3cΔ9,12,15) values were significantly lower.