Abstract
► Citrillus colocynthis seeds contain 23.12% of oil which is mainly composed of linoleic and oleic fatty acids. ► The tocopherol content of C. colocynthis was 121.85mg/100g and γ-tocopherol was the major one. ► C. colocynthis oil was thermally stable up to 286.57°C and showed four decomposition stages at high temperature. ► C. colocynthis oil can supplement or replace some of the conventional oils such as sunflower oil. ► C. colocynthis oil can be used for food and non-food applications.
The physicochemical properties, fatty acid, tocopherol, thermal properties, 1H NMR, FTIR and profiles of non-conventional oil extracted from Citrullus colocynthis (L.) Schrad seeds were evaluated and compared with conventional sunflower seed oil. In addition, the antioxidant properties of C. colocynthis seed oil were also evaluated. The oil content of the C. colocynthis seeds was 23.16%. The main fatty acids in the oil were linoleic acid (66.73%) followed by oleic acid (14.78%), palmitic acid (9.74%), and stearic acid (7.37%). The tocopherol content was 121.85mg/100g with γ-tocopherol as the major one (95.49%). The thermogravimetric analysis showed that the oil was thermally stable up to 286.57°C, and then began to decompose in four stages namely at 377.4°C, 408.4°C, 434.9°C and 559.2°C. The present study showed that this non-conventional C. colocynthis seed oil can be used for food and non-food applications to supplement or replace some of the conventional oils.