Algerian Moringa oleifera whole seeds and kernels oils: Characterization, oxidative stability, and antioxidant capacity

Abstract

The rising of global per capita food consumption has driven scientists and manufacturers into a search for new or renewed edible oil sources, while also improving their production towards maximum yield, quality, and economic feasibility. Hence, a new origin (Algerian) of Moringa oleifera seed oil was characterized in the present study in terms of its physical and chemical features on two consecutive crops. Moreover, aiming to ascertain if the industrial solvent extraction could be enhanced, extracted oils from shelled and unshelled seeds were compared. All oils under study presented a low oxidation status and an excellent resistance to oxidation. Additionally to the characteristic high average content of unsaturated fatty acids (71% oleic acid), microcomponent analyses revealed interesting amounts of phytosterols (4–5 g/kg), tocopherols (287–327 mg/kg), carotenoids (4–8 mg/kg), and phenolic compounds (11–17 mg/kg). These outcomes were within or better (stability and oxidative status) than reported data for M. oleifera seed oil from other origins, and without significant differences between crops. Apart from a slight color change and increased sterol and wax contents when extracted with shells, no other significant compositional changes were observed, including oil extraction yield, both equivalent to 37% on a kernel basis. This work sustains the high quality of Algerian M. oleifera seed oil, a still underutilized crop in this country. Also, it provides an insight on the potential use of grinded whole seeds directly for solvent extraction, reducing labor demand and cost for the industries, without significant variation on compositional and stability parameters. Practical applications: Regarding the growing demand on edible oils, and considering Algeria as a country with a large range of climatic conditions, M. oleifera cultivation for edible oil extraction could be of economic interests to the region. Based on the findings of this work, the oil extracted from M. oleifera grown in Algeria presents significantly high quality, stability, and consistency between crops. From a technological point of view, we also propose that solvent extraction can be performed directly on the powder of whole M. oleifera seeds, avoiding the shelling step, with proportional oil yield and equivalents quality, of major importance for the industry. Algerian Moringa oil presents high quality, stability, and consistency between crops. The presence of shells does not effect oil quality and yield, of major importance for the industry.

Detailed chemical composition and functional properties of Ammodaucus leucotrichus Cross. & Dur. and Moringa oleifera Lamarck

“…Sánchez-Machado et al (2006) found α-tocopherol as the main isomer in M. oleifera leaves (744.5 µg/g) from Sonora, Mexico. The Algerian M. oleifera oil sample from kernels showed a significant higher value of total tocopherol (287-327 mg/kg), as well as the individual amounts of α-tocopherol (195.8-263.2 mg/kg), β-tocopherol (4.7-10.5 mg/kg), γ-tocopherol (51.2-77.8 mg/kg), and δtocopherol (6.1-8.6 mg/kg) (Boukandoul et al, 2017). This higher content could be due to the fact that the previous authors use different plant parts, which certainly contain a higher content of this lipophilic vitamin.…”

“…Recently, it has attracted a lot of attention due to its nutritional value, as also health benefits (David et al, 2017) such as, inflammation treatments, diabetes, gastro-intestinal and infectious diseases along with cardiovascular, hematological, and hepatorenal disorders (David et al, 2017;Gopalakrishnan, Doriya, & Santhosh, 2016). The reason why it has been introduced in many parts of the world, including Algeria, where it is cultivated in some Saharan areas (Bachar and tamanrasset), is mainly due to its food security and nutritional proposes (Boukandoul, Casal, Cruz, Pinho, & Zaidi, 2017). Edible leaves and seeds of M. oleifera (eaten fresh, powdered or cooked) contain a varied profile of many nutrients, such as essential sulfur amino acids, protein and minerals (Maryann, Lord, Uchechukwu, & Chibuike, 2018).…”

The Potential of Some Moringa Species for Seed Oil Production

“…Table 5. Seed oil main components of the most known Moringa species [11,18,36,38,48,[60][61][62][63]67,70,76,[80][81][82][83]. From a health point of view, the oil is also rich is phytosterols, consistently between 0.2 and 0.6 g/100 g oil, being rich in β-sitosterol, stigmasterol, campesterol and ∆5-avenalsterol [71].…”

“…Table 1. Moringa species origin, distribution, preservation status and major uses [1,[14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28].…”

Moringa oleifera defatted flour: Nutritive and bioactive impact of shells

“…Therefore, industrial oil extraction procedures include a shelling step, producing two residues: The shells and fat exhausted kernel. We have previously compared the quality of M. oleifera oil obtained directly from unshelled seeds flour (Boukandoul, Casal, Cruz, Pinho, & Zaidi, 2017), in opposition to its extraction from shelled seed, with very attractive outcomes. In line with this, a study comparing the chemical composition of both defatted M. oleifera flours obtained after oil extraction from whole seeds and kernels would be of great interest and complementary to the previous study.…”