Physiochemical characteristics, fatty acid profile and tocopherol composition of the oil from Camellia oleifera Abel cultivated in Henan, China

Abstract

As a unique woody oil tree, Camellia oleifera Abel originates from southern China and is now being cultivated in central China, such as the southern Henan province. The aim of this work is to determine some physiochemical parameters, fatty acid profile and tocopherol composition of the Camellia oleifera seed oils harvested in southern Henan in the 2016 season. The lipid contents of the kernel are in the range of 28.39- 56.94% on dry matter. The acid value (AV), saponification value (SV), iodine value (IV), and refractive index of the oils are in the ranges: 0.22-5.17 mg KOH/g, 178.90-196.91 mg KOH/g, 82.0-87.1 g I2/100g, and 1.4667-1.4720 (nD25) , respectively. The main fatty acids are: palmitic 7.07-9.52%, palmitoleic 0.09-0.22%, stearic 1.45-2.94%, oleic 77.02-84.33%, linoleic 5.19-11.23%, linolenic 0.53-0.70% and arachidic 0.22-0.70%. The sn-2 fatty acid composition is: 84.36-91.33% oleic, 7.14-14.22% linoleic, and 0.89-1.96% others. The tocopherol content is in the range of 39.55-75.94 mg/100g oil, including mainly α-tocopherol (33.98-67.82 mg/100g) and γ-tocopherol (5.57- 8.27 mg/100g) when the oils are extracted with hexane; and 14.91-44.36 mg/100g, including mainly α-tocopherol (9.42-37.08 mg/100g) and γ-tocopherol (5.50-7.33 mg/100g) when the oils are extracted by ethyl ether. The physiochemical properties C. oleifera seed oils from southern Henan are similar to those from other districts of China.