Pistacia Atlantica Desf., a Source of Healthy Vegetable Oil

Abstract

Pistacia atlantica, which belongs to the Anacardiaceae family, is an important species for rural people in arid and semi-arid areas. The fruit, rich in oil, is used in traditional medicine for the treatment of various diseases. The oil extracted from this species growing in a northern area of Algeria and its fatty acid composition were previously studied. However, the largest areas where this species is present (traditional cultivation) is located in southern Algeria. Moreover, studies on oil fatty acid composition and essential oil were always conducted separately. This study was performed in order to assess the fatty acid and volatile organic compound composition of P. atlantica vegetable oil. The seeds were collected randomly from Djelfa (300 km South of Algiers, Algeria). Oil content and fatty acid composition were determined by Soxhlet extraction. The seeds contained high concentrations of oil (32–67%). The major fatty acids were oleic (39–49%), linoleic (23.6–31%), and palmitic (21.3–26.6%) acids. The ratio of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) to saturated fatty acids (SFA) indicated that the content of unsaturated fatty acids was approximately three times higher than that of SFA. This ratio is widely used in epidemiological studies and research on cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and metabolic syndrome. The ratios of -acids, i.e., -9/-6 and -6/-3, were 1.3–2 and 18.5–38.3, respectively. Crushed seeds were analyzed by headspace solid-phase microextraction (SPME) coupled with gas chromatography–mass spectrometry. More than 40 compounds were identified, mainly monoterpenes (C10H16), such as α-terpinene and terpinolene, but also sesquiterpenes (C15H24) at lower levels. The value of this species as a source of healthy oil rich in -3 acid and its effects on cardiovascular disease risk are discussed.

Accumulation during fruit development of components of interest in seed of Chia (Salvia hispanica L.) cultivar Oruro© released in France

“…For MUFA intakes, international recommendations vary greatly between 12-25%. Moreover, the ratio of linoleic to linolenic must be lesser than five (Kalonji et al, 2012;Ristić-Medić et al, 2013;Labdelli et al, 2019). Our results showed, at 24 DAF, the chia seeds fulfill the recommendations mentioned above (Tab.…”

“…These values are significantly higher than those of most vegetable oils, e.g. canola oil (0.36), olive oil (0.08-0.12), soybean oil (0.15), Safflower (0.01) Atlas pistachio (0.10) and walnut oil (0.25) (Galão et al, 2014;Ojeda-Amador et al, 2018;Rodrigues et al, 2018;Beyzi et al, 2019;Labdelli et al, 2019;Roche et al, 2019). The tocopherol content increased in same way between 17 to 24 DAF (Tab.…”

Chemical, Nutritional and Antioxidant Characteristics of Different Food Seeds

“…The importance of functional foods, nutraceuticals, food supplements and other natural diet compounds has been associated with health promotion and disease prevention. Fatty acids (FAs) have important biological functions, such as being components of biological membranes, precursors of different molecules, energy storage and the transport of vitamins [1,2]. Lipids, carbohydrates, proteins, minerals and vitamins present in all foods are essential nutrients, compounds that cannot be synthetized by the human body in adequate quantities and must be supplied by the diet [3,4].…”

Total Tocopherols, Carotenoids, and Fatty Acids Content Variation of Pistacia atlantica from Different Organs’ Crude Oils and Their Antioxidant Activity during Development Stages

“…[2] Other applications have been reported such as the use of their galls as a raw material for tanning in the leather industry, [3] insect repellent, and fumigant against plant fungi diseases. [4] In recent decades, those properties are supported and confirmed by multiple research, whither diverse phytochemical groups were identified and revealed from P. atlantica Desf. such as terpenoids (essential oils), [5] phenolic compounds, [6,7] flavonoids, [8] fatty acids and sterols.…”