BACKGROUND Phytosterols are plant components with health benefits. Oleaginous seed hybridization can be relevant to increase phytosterols in diet through enriched oils. Sunflower oils obtained by press (PO) and subsequent solvent extraction (SO) from three types of phytosterol‐enriched seeds were characterized. One presented a phytosterol composition of common sunflower seeds, whereas the other two were rich in campesterol and Δ7‐stigmasterol, respectively. Seeds from two different harvests, 2015 and 2017, were studied. RESULTS The type of extraction did not have a significant influence on the fatty acid composition. However, considerable differences were found between harvests. The oleic‐to‐linoleic ratio decreased from 0.71 in 2015 to 0.47 in 2017. The phytosterol compositions of the PO were similar to their SO homologues and no substantial differences were found between harvests. However, the SO presented higher total contents of phytosterols (4849–9249 mg kg−1) than the PO (2839–5284 mg kg−1) and the oils of 2017 showed higher levels (4476–9249 mg kg−1) compared to 2015 (2839–5754 mg kg−1). Unlike phytosterols, no significant differences were found in the tocopherol contents between the PO and SO or between harvests. The PO met Codex specifications for edible oils, except for trace metals, with concentrations close or above the limits for Cu, Fe, Pb and As. CONCLUSIONS Differences in environmental and/or cultivation conditions between harvests may result in substantial differences in the fatty acid composition and phytosterol content in oils from the new sunflower seeds. Rigorous measures and controls to avoid trace metal contamination are required so that the PO can be considered as edible virgin oils. © 2020 Society of Chemical Industry

The fatty acid composition and the amounts of individual and total sterols in vegetable oils are the main analyses applied in the food industry to establish the oil nature. While the fatty acid composition is a relatively simple, fast analysis, the determination of phytosterols requires a laborious and time-consuming sample preparation. Both methods require a relatively large amount of oil, which may be an important drawback when only small samples are available. In this study, an analytical procedure that combines the sample preparation of both determinations is proposed to analyze small amounts of seed oils. From a single sample preparation, the total analysis time was considerably shortened. By applying a total methylation, the triacylglycerols and free fatty acids were transformed into fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) derivatives. Likewise, free sterols were completely released from their conjugated forms. Then the derivatized oil was fractionated by solid-phase extraction into two fractions containing the FAME and free sterols, respectively. Both fractions were analyzed by gas-liquid chromatography. The analytical changes introduced provided reliable results for the main fatty acids and the major sterols in terms of accuracy and repeatability. Compared to the standard procedures, the time for sample preparation was reduced by half. In addition, it was much less laborious and required less volume of organic solvents, which reduced considerably the total cost of analysis and solvent waste. Consequently, the method proposed can be adopted as routine analysis in laboratories of oil quality control in the food industry.