Chemical Composition of Seed Oils Recovered from Different Pear (Pyrus communis L.) Cultivars

Lipophilic bioactive compounds in oils recovered from the seeds of eight pear (Pyrus communis L.) cultivars were studied. Oil yield in pear seeds ranged between 16.3 and 31.5 % (w/w) dw. The main fatty acids were palmitic acid (6.13–8.52 %), oleic acid (27.39–38.17 %) and linoleic acid (50.73–63.78 %), all three representing 96–99 % of the total detected fatty acids. The range of total tocochromanols was between 120.5 and 216.1 mg/100 g of oil. Independent of the cultivar, the γ‐tocopherol was the main tocochromanol and constituted approximately 88 %. The contents of the carotenoids and squalene were between 0.69–2.99 and 25.5–40.8 mg/100 g of oil, respectively. The β‐sitosterol constituted 83.4–87.6 % of total sterols contents, which ranged between 276.4 and 600.1 mg/100 g of oil. Three significant correlations were found between oil yield and total contents of sterols (r = ?0.893), tocochromanols (r = ?0.955) and carotenoids (r = ?0.685) in pear seed oils.     

Associations between Oil Yield and Profile of Fatty Acids,Sterols, Squalene,Carotenoids, and Tocopherols in Seed Oil of Selected Japanese Quince Genotypes during Fruit Development

Tocopherols, phytosterols, carotenoids, and squalene are present in mature seeds of Japanese quince. Yet, little is known about the relationship between these compounds and oil yield during fruit and seed development. The profile change of lipophilic compounds during fruit and seed development in Japanese quince cultivars “Darius,” “Rondo,” and “Rasa” is investigated. It is shown here that during fruit and seed development, there is a significant reduction, three‐ to over tenfold, in the concentration of minor bioactive compounds in seed oil. It is recorded that delay between synthesis of tocopherols and oil in Japanese quince seeds during the fruit development results in a logarithmic relationship between the oil content and tocopherols concentration in the seed oil (R² = 0.980). Similar trends are observed between oil yield and phytosterols, and carotenoids (R² = 0.927 and R² = 0.959, respectively). The profile of fatty acids during the development of the seeds significantly is changed. The reduction of linoleic, palmitic, and gondoic acids levels and increment of oleic acid is noted. The oil content, profile of fatty acids, and concentration of bioactive compounds in all three genotypes of Japanese quince do not change significantly statistically during the last month of fruit development. Practical Applications: Some fruits are harvested at different degrees of maturity mainly due to a logistic issue and uneven ripening of fruits, which affects the chemical composition of whole fruit including seeds. Therefore, it would be good to know how the chemical composition is changing in plant material during development especially in the last month before harvest. Production of Japanese quince continues to rise year to year and with it the volume of generated by‐products such as seeds. This study demonstrates how it changes the oil content, profile of fatty acid, and concentration of tocopherols, squalene, phytosterols, and carotenoids in the seeds and seed oil of three Japanese quince cultivars “Rondo,” “Darius,” and “Rasa” during plant development. The provided information can be very useful for the manufactories oriented on the processing of by‐products, mainly seeds, generated by other branches of industry, for instance, fruit‐processing.     

Seeds recovered from by-products of selected fruit processing as a rich source of tocochromanols: RP-HPLC/FLD and RP-UPLC-ESI/MSn study

Tocochromanol composition was analysed in the seeds of nine various fruits: apple (Malus domestica Borkh.), red currant (Ribes rubrum L.), gooseberry (Ribes uva-crispa L.), grape (Vitis vinifera L.), pomegranate (Punica granatum L.), Japanese quince (Chaenomeles japonica (Thunb.) Lindl. ex Spach), sea buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides L.), watermelon (Citrullus lanatus (Thunb.) Matsum. & Nakai) and canary melon (Cucumis melo L.), recovered from by-products of fruit industry. The concentration range of subsequent tocopherols (Ts) and tocotrienols (T3s) was as follows: 1.29–29.30, 0.00–11.68, 0.42–95.11, 0.00–7.66, 0.03–5.03, 0.00–0.18 and 0.00–6.68 mg/100 g of seed dry weight for α-T, β-T, γ-T, δ-T, α-T3, β-T3 and γ-T3, respectively. The δ-T3 was not detected in any of the tested seeds. All tocochromanols were successfully separated by rapid RP-HPLC/FLD method and confirmed by the RP-UPLC-ESI/MS³ technique.     

Dessert and crab apple seeds as a promising and rich source of all four homologues of tocopherol (α, β, γ and δ)

Tocochromanols composition in apple seeds, obtained as a by-product during the fruit salad and juice production, of twelve varieties - seven crab apple (‘Kerr’, ‘Kuku’, ‘Quaker Beauty’, ‘Riku’, ‘Ritika’, ‘Ruti’ and K-8/9-24) and five dessert apples (‘Antej’, ‘Beforest’, ‘Kent’, ‘Sinap Orlovskij’ and ‘Zarja Alatau’) were studied. Tocopherols and tocotrienols were isolated using the micro-saponification method of high precision and accuracy and they were analysedanalysed by rapid RP-HPLC/FLD and RP-UPLC-ESI/MSⁿ. Four tocopherols, with predominance of homologues α and β, were detected in each tested sample. The seeds from two apple cultivars ‘Antej’ and ‘Beforest’ were characterized by unique and similar ratios of all four tocopherol homologues α:β:γ:δ (1.7:1.5:1.3:1.0 and 2.1:2.0:1.3:1.0, respectively). The concentration range of individual tocopherol homologues (α, β, γ and δ) in apple seeds were as follows: 17.22–25.79, 7.53–29.05, 0.61–13.82 and 0.16–10.79 mg/100 g dry weight basis (dwb), respectively. Moreover, three tocotrienols (α, β and γ) were identified in lesser amounts (0.02–0.74 mg/100 g dwb). Use of apple seeds to isolate tocopherol homologues can ensure better environmental sustainability and effective use of natural plant material.