Essential oil,fatty acid and sterol composition of Tunisian coriander fruit different parts

BACKGROUND: Seed and pericarp of coriander fruit were compared in terms of essential oil, fatty acids and sterols. RESULTS: Essential oil yield of coriander samples ranged from 0.30 to 0.68% (w/w) in fruit and seed, respectively. However, in pericarp, the essential oil yield was only of 0.04% (w/w). Linalool was the major compound in the whole fruit, seed and pericarp, with 86.1%, 91.1% and 24.6% of the oils, respectively. Fatty acid composition of pericarp and seed lipids were investigated by gas chromatography. Petroselinic acid was the main compound of fruit and seed, followed by linoleic and oleic acids. Palmitic and linoleic acids were estimated in higher amounts in pericarp lipids. Total sterol contents were 36.93 g kg^?1 oil in seed, 6.29 g kg^?1 oil in fruit and 4.30 g kg^?1 oil in pericarp. Fruit and pericarp oils were characterized by a high proportion of β‐sitosterol, with 36.7% and 49.4% of total sterols, respectively. However, stigmasterol (29.5%) was found to be the sterol marker in seed oils. CONCLUSION: Coriander oil is a rich source of many compounds such as essential oils, fatty acids and sterols. This compound distribution presented significant differences between whole fruit, seed and pericarp. Copyright © 2009 Society of Chemical Industry