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Sicilian Opuntia ficus‐indica Seed Oil: Fatty Acid Composition and Bio‐Economical Aspects
Author(s) -
Ciriminna Rosaria,
Bongiorno David,
Scurria Antonino,
Danzì Carmelo,
Timpanaro Giuseppe,
Delisi Riccardo,
Avellone Giuseppe,
Pagliaro Mario
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
european journal of lipid science and technology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.614
H-Index - 94
eISSN - 1438-9312
pISSN - 1438-7697
DOI - 10.1002/ejlt.201870029
Subject(s) - vaccenic acid , confusion , table (database) , fatty acid , chemistry , botany , food science , linoleic acid , biology , organic chemistry , computer science , data mining , psychology , conjugated linoleic acid , psychoanalysis
The fatty acid composition of the seed oil from the yellow fruit of Opuntia ficus-indica widely grown in Sicily shows several distinctive features. The oil obtained comprises significant amounts of vaccenic acid along with several other unsaturated fatty acids showing several health benefits, including linolenic, trans-13-octadecenoic, gondoic, 7Z,10Z-hexadecadienoic and gadoleic acid. The economic analysis shows the significant advantage of carrying out the extraction from fruits considered unfit for consumption. Practical applications: The fatty acid composition of Sicilian Opuntia ficus-indica seed oil is similar to that of fruits grown in Tunisia, while it has a completely different profile than the OFI fruits grown in Algeria and Morocco. Like the oil obtained in Tunisia, the Sicilian oil has a higher vaccenic acid content, but it comprises significant amounts of other unsaturated fatty acids showing highly beneficial health properties. Extracted from fruits considered unfit for consumption, its production generates €1,220 additional revenues per tonne of unfit fruit thereby significantly improving the economics of OFI processing companies. The oil has several potential applications which go beyond cosmetics, especially as nutraceutical ingredient. With increasing usage and market expansion, we predict that cold press extraction will be replaced by advanced extraction methods such as extraction with supercritical CO2 maximizing for example the biophenol amount in the oil..