Seven underutilized species of the Fabaceae family with high potential for industrial application as alternative sources of oil and lipophilic bioactive compounds

Fabaceae is the third largest family in the plant world, mainly considered a source of relatively valuable plant protein and a rather poor source of oil. The present study shows that several legume species (Bauhinia purpurea, Phanera vahlii, Butea monosperma, Caesalpinia crista, Gliricidia sepium, Mimosa pudica, Millettia pinnata) can be also considered as an alternative source of oil. The oil yield in studied species (19–36%) was similar or even higher than in soybean (Glycine max), the most known representant of the Fabaceae family. Palmitic, stearic, oleic, and linoleic acids constitute 87–99% of detected fatty acids with predomination of unsaturated (62–82%). All obtained oils were rich sources of tocopherols (79–187 mg/100 g oil), mainly α (five species) and γ (two species) homologues. With the exception of M. pinnata, where Δ5-stigmasterol (25%) and α-amyrin (26%) were the main phytosterols, β-sitosterol, Δ5-stigmasterol and campesterol constituted 51–96% of total phytosterols with a predomination of β-sitosterol (36–64%). The total carotenoid and phytosterol contents in studied Fabaceae species were in the range 0.6–8.9 and 175–622 mg/100 g oil, respectively. The present study demonstrated that several legume seeds could be considered a valuable source of oil and lipophilic bioactive compounds.