Fatty acids profile in three cultivars of Tunisian apricot oilseeds (<i>Prunus armeniaca</i> L.): impact of maturity

Profiling’s of oil yield and fatty acid were monitored during maturation of three different accession of Tunisian apricots (AprB, AprC and AprO) among different days after flowering (DAF) and grown in two different geographical regions of Tunisia. The first results show that a quick distribution started in immature oilseeds apricot and continued until their full maturity. Nine fatty acids were identified in apricot oilseeds such as palmitic, palmitoleic, stearic, oleic, linoleic, linolenic, arachidic, gadoleic and margaric acids. Palmitic, oleic and linoleic acids were determined as major fatty acids in apricot oil varieties. Interestingly, the content of each fatty acid in the three accessions of apricot varied significantly (p ) during seeds development and especially in wild apricot AprB. PCA analysis in AprB demonstrate that at the time-date of 41 DAF, the production of fatty acids is in its maximum and could have numerous future therapeutics applications.</p

Comparison of the Concentrations of Long-Chain Alcohols (Policosanol) in Three Tunisian Peanut Varieties (Arachis hypogaea L.)

International audiencePolicosanol (PC) is a mixture of high molecular weight aliphatic primary alcohols. Literature about the contents and compositions of PC derived from peanut varieties is scarce. Total PC composition and content in whole peanut grain samples from three varieties of peanut (two cultivars, AraC and AraT, and a wild one, AraA) were identified using a gas chromatograph system coupled with a mass spectrophotometer. The results show that, qualitatively, 21 components of peanut aliphatic alcohols were identified (C(14)-C(30)). Besides (C(18=)), the results exhibited a previously unreported mixture of PC compositions in the peanuts: the unsaturated PC (UPC), which are (C(20=)), (C(21=)), (C(22=)), and (C(24=)). The main components of total PC in Tunisian peanut kernels are docosanol (C(22)), (Z)-octadec-9-en-1-ol (C(18=)), hexadecanol (C(16)), and octadecanol (C(18)). Quantitatively, the total PC content of the whole peanut samples varied from 11.18 to 54.19 mg/100 g of oil and was higher than those of beeswax and whole sugar cane, which are sources of dietary supplements containing policosanol