Comparative analysis of lipophilic phytochemicals in seed oils of six aromatic plant species

Searching for alternative oil crops rich in health-beneficial molecules is an important scientific and industrial topic. Therefore, in the present study, the seeds of six species– Allium cepa, Coriandrum sativum, Cuminum cyminum, Foeniculum vulgare, Trachyspermum ammi, and Nigella sativa as oil sources and their phytochemical profile were studied. Investigated seed species contained 20 to 42% of oil in C. sativum and N. sativa, respectively, thereby can be considered as oilseed crops (≥ 15%). Four species of the Apiaceae family (C. sativum, C. cyminum, F. vulgare, and T. ammi) were dominated by petroselinic acid (55–80%), while A. cepa and N. sativa in linoleic acid (61 and 62%, respectively). Apiaceae family species and N. sativa were predominantly rich in tocotrienols (T3s). The C. cyminum in α-T3, while C. sativum, F. vulgare, and T. ammi in γ-T3, and N. sativa in β-T3. The A. cepa in 99.5% contained tocopherols (Ts), mainly homologue α (80%). Only Apiaceae family seed oils were a source of squalene of comparable amounts (22.2–23.7 mg/100 g). The investigated oils had a diversified composition of phytosterols, characteristic of each species. The campesterol, Δ5-stigmasterol, β-sitosterol, Δ5-avenasterol, Δ5,24-stigmastadienol, gramisterol, cycloartenol, and Δ7-stigmasterol were the main recorded phytosterols. The differences between the lowest and the highest content (mg/100 g) of bioactive molecules were considerable– over six (27.7–172.5), eight (98.9–797.3), and sixty-five (0.2–13.1) times for total tocochromanols, phytosterols, and carotenoids, respectively. The investigated species are good sources of oil and valuable in lipophilic health-beneficial molecules.