Characteristics and chemical composition of date palm (Phoenix canariensis) seeds and seed oil

Studies were conducted on properties of seeds and oil extracted from fully ripened Phoenix canariensis date seeds. The percentage composition of the P. canariensis seeds found is: ash 1.18%, oil 10.36%, protein content 5.67%, total carbohydrate 72.59% and moisture 10.20%. The major nutrients (mg/100g of oil) determined were: potassium (255.43), magnesium (62.78), calcium (48.56) and phosphorus (41.33). The physicochemical properties of the oil observed include: the saponification number 191.28; the iodine number 76.66, the p-anisidine value 3.67; the peroxide value 3.62 meq/kg; the unsaponifiable matter content 1.79%, the free fatty acids content 0.59%; the carotenoid content 5.51 mg/100g; the chlorophyll content 0.10 mg/100g and the refractive index 1.45. The main fatty acids of oil were oleic (50.10%), linoleic (19.23%), lauric (10.24%). palmitic (9.83%) and stearic (7.51%). The main triacylglycerols found in P. canariensis seed oil were: LaMM + LaLaP (18.9%), LaMP + MMM (15.31%) and LaOO + PLL + MPL (12.86%). The DSC melting curves revealed that: melting point = 3.71 degrees C and melting enthalpy = 62.08 J/g. The sterol marker, beta-sitosterol, accounted for 76.06% of the total sterols content in the seed oil followed by campesterol (8.89%) and Delta(5)avenesterol (8.79%). alpha-Tocotrienol was the major tocol (66%) with the rest being gamma-tocotrienol and gamma-tocopherol. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.