ARS | Publication request: FATTY ACID COMPOSITION AND TOCOPHEROL CONTENT OF PUMPKIN SEED OIL

Submitted to: American Chemical Society Abstracts
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: August 21, 2007
Publication Date: August 21, 2007
Citation: Stevenson, D.G., Eller, F.J., Liping, W., Jay-Lin, J., Tong, W., Inglett, G.E. 2007. Fatty acid composition and tocopherol content of pumpkin seed oil [abstract]. American Chemical Society Abstracts. Paper No. AGFD 110.

Technical Abstract: Pumpkin seed oil (PSO) has high tocopherol content (TC) and unsaturated fatty acids (UFA) making it well-suited for improving human nutrition. PSO has been implicated in preventing prostate growth, retarding hypertension, mitigating hypercholesterolemia and arthritis, improved bladder compliance, alleviating diabetes by promoting hypoglycemic activity, and reduced gastric, breast, lung and colorectal cancer. We evaluated twelve pumpkin cultivars for their fatty acid composition and TC. Oil content ranged from 11 to 31%. Total UFA ranged from 73-81%, with linoleic, oleic, palmitic and stearic acid predominant. Significant differences were observed among cultivars for stearic, oleic, linoleic and gadoleic acid. Linolenic acid levels were low (<1%). PSO TC ranged from 27.1-75.1 micrograms/g oil for alpha-tocopherol, 74.9-492.8 micrograms/g for gamma-tocopherol and 35.3-1109.7 micrograms/g for delta-tocopherol. This study showed potential for PSO from all cultivars to have high oxidative stability that would be suitable for food and industrial applications. The high unsaturation and tocopherol content could potentially improve human nutrition.