EVALUATION OF THE FATTY ACID PROFILE OF SOME VEGETABLE OILS OF ROMANIAN ORIGIN

Abstract

Waste from the food industry is of considerable value and is a valuable raw material, containing proteins, minerals, carbohydrates, lipids, etc. Large quantities of fruit kernels are currently wasted every year from processing plants all over the world, including Romania. This not only means the loss of a potentially valuable resource, but also creates serious problems regarding their storage and logistics in terms of environmental pollution. In order to value such by-products, the aim of this work was to study and evaluate 7 samples of vegetable oils obtained under laboratory conditions, as well as their saturated and unsaturated fatty acid profile. The oils were extracted from plant material of Romanian origin: apricot, plum, sour cherry kernels, apple seed and linseed, almond and walnuts. GC-MS gas chromatographic method was used to determine the fatty acid composition. The dominant fatty acids were the unsaturated ones, i.e. oleic acid (apricot kernel oil,) in the range 51.72- 61.74 % and linoleic acid (apple seed and walnut oil) in the range 57.38 -59.46 %, while linolenic acid (53.15%) predominated mainly in linseed oil. Saturated fatty acids (palmitic and stearic) were also identified in all 7 oil samples, but in lower amounts (palmitic in the range 6.71 - 17.97% and stearic acid in the range 0.40-9.15%). With a high fat content and unsaturated fatty acid composition, these kernel and seed oils can be used in the food industry.