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Fatty Acid Composition of Baccaurea courtallensis Muell. Arg Seed Oil: an Endemic Species of Western Ghats, India
Author(s) -
Mohan Srinivasa
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
journal of the american oil chemists' society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.512
H-Index - 117
eISSN - 1558-9331
pISSN - 0003-021X
DOI - 10.1007/s11746-009-1430-3
Subject(s) - saponification value , lauric acid , chemistry , linoleic acid , palmitic acid , food science , oleic acid , myristic acid , acid value , botany , stearic acid , composition (language) , iodine value , linolenic acid , fatty acid , biology , organic chemistry , biochemistry , linguistics , philosophy
Baccaurea courtallensis Muell. Arg., a moderately sized evergreen tree of the Euphorbiaceae, is endemic to Western Ghats. Its fruits are edible, sour in taste, and contain 2–4 seeds. The native residents harvest the fruits for their medicinal value and for pickling. The seed weight is 0.28 g or 1.0 kg contains 3,500 seeds with a seed coat. The fruit to seed weight ratio is 34:1. Virtually, no work on the chemistry of the seeds or fruit of the species has been reported. Seeds of the species contain 22.5% oil on a dry kernel weight basis. Analysis of the composition of the oil revealed two major fatty acids palmitic acid (42.59%) and oleic acid (36.15%). Stearic acid content was 16.20% and myristic acid was 4.28% of the oil. Two minor acids present were lauric acid (0.40%) and linoleic acid (0.38%) and also including traces of linolenic acid. Physico‐chemical properties of the oil showed an acid value of 1.402, a saponification value of 166.89, a refractive index of 0.4239, a specific gravity of −0.938, and an optical rotation of α at 29 °C + 0.35° ( λ = 589 nm).