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Quality of Oil Pressed from Hemp Seed Varieties: ‘Earlina 8FC’, ‘Secuieni Jubileu’ and ‘Finola’
In the last decade, the demand for edible niche oils has increased. Therefore, the aim of this study was to characterize the seeds hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) varieties: ‘Finola’ (FIN-314)’, ‘Earlina 8FC’, and ‘Secuieni Jubileu’, and cold and hot pressed oils were prepared from each seed. The seeds were examined for moisture content, granulometric distribution, bulk density, and fat content. Seeds were pressed without and with preconditioning (60 °C), and oil yield and pressing time were recorded. The oil was filtered through cellulose membranes. Oil–water content, oil color, fatty acid profile, and sterol content were studied. From the study conducted, there are significant differences in the parameters of oil recovery and its quality compared to ‘Finola’ seed oil, which is widely reported in the literature. ‘Finola’ oil yield was the lowest, with an average of 79% compared to ‘Earlina’ (82%) and ‘S. Jubileu’ (84%). All oil samples contained a comparable amount of sterols, with campesterol (0.32 mg/g), β-sitosterol (1.3 mg/g) and Δ5-avenasterol (0.15 mg/g) predominating. From the organoleptic evaluation, it was evident that both varieties hemp oils and marc (‘Earlina’ and ‘S. Jubileu’) were not bitter like the “Finola” oil and marc. More detailed studies in this direction have to be undertaken.
Profiling of the lipophilic components of seed oil obtained from two medicinal plants Corchorus capsularis L. and Hibiscus sabdariffa L.
Effect of refining and fractionation processes on minor components, fatty acids, antioxidant and antimicrobial activities of shea butter
Shea butter is becoming increasingly popular in foods, cosmetics and pharmaceutical products. This work aims to study the effect of the refining process on the quality and stability of fractionated and mixed shea butters. Crude shea butter, refined shea stearin, olein and their mixture (1:1 w/w) were analyzed for fatty acids, triacylglycerol composition, peroxide value (PV), free fatty acids (FFA), phenolic (TPC), flavonoid (TFC), unsaponifiable matter (USM), tocopherol and phytosterol content. Additionally, the oxidative stability, radical scavenging activity (RSA), antibacterial and antifungal activities were evaluated. The two main fatty acids in the shea butter samples were stearic and oleic. The refined shea stearin showed lower PV, FFA, USM, TPC, TFC, RSA, tocopherol and sterol content than crude shea butter. A higher EC50 was observed, but antibacterial activity was much lower. The refined olein fraction was characterized by lower PV, FFA and TFC in comparison with crude shea butter, but USM, TPC, RSA, EC50, tocopherol and sterol content was unchanged. The antibacterial activity was higher, but the antifungal activity was lower than those of crude shea butter. When both fractions were mixed, their fatty acid and triacylglycerol composition were similar to those of crude shea butter, but other parameters were different.