Abstract
This study highlights the effect of solvent polarity on the yield (Y%) and properties of oil extracted from Algerian sesame seeds. Extractions were carried out under Soxhlet conditions with the following solvents: hexane (Hx), ethanol (Eth), acetone (Ac), dichloromethane (Di), isopropanol (Iso), hexane:isopropanol (Hx:Iso), and chloroform:methanol (Chf:Me). The sesame oil yield obtained using different solvents ranged from 28.86 to 52.83%. Fatty acids and sterols analyses were performed by GC on capillary column. ?-Tocopherol was the major tocochromanol compound detected by HPLC-fluorescence. Fourteen fatty acids were identified, with the predominance of oleic and linoleic acids. The main sterol in sesame oil was beta-sitosterol, followed by stigmasterol, campesterol, and ?5-avenasterol which were present in lower concentrations. High correlations were found between arachidic, gadoleic, behenic, and lignoceric acids concentrations; these results were explained by the metabolic biosynthesis pathway of the biologically active long-chain PUFA by successive elongation and desaturation. Principal component analysis (PCA) of the data obtained from sesame oil composition enabled an easy comparison of the different extraction solvents, and correlated their properties with the most characteristic components of the extracted oils with a view to understand solventoil interaction, and to establish the effects of extracting solvent on such oil composition.