Screening and comparing tocopherols in the rapeseed (Brassica napus L.) and olive (Olea europaea L.) varieties using high-performance liquid chromatography.

Rapeseed and virgin olive oils are a good source of tocopherols. Tocopherols are the most important compounds having antioxidant activity in both crops. Little is known about the tocopherol contents of rapeseed and olive oil grown in Turkey. The aims of this research were to investigate some new rapeseed varieties and olive genotypes grown in northwest Turkey and to compare the tocopherol fractions and contents of both crops. For rapeseed, the data were collected in two growing seasons (2004-2005, 2005-2006) from a field experiment with 19 new rapeseed varieties. For olives, virgin olive oils produced from 21 different varieties were examined in the 2004-2005 and 2005-2006 growing seasons. The separation and identification of tocopherols and the analysis of their contents were successfully achieved using the high-performance liquid chromatographic method. According to the obtained results, gamma-tocopherol (44.200-118.900 mg/kg) was the major fraction of total tocopherol, followed by alpha-tocopherol (19.300-68.500 mg/kg) and delta-tocopherol (0.00-2.600 mg/kg) for rapeseeds. Regarding olive varieties, the alpha-tocopherol content changed between 52.000 and 194.750 mg/kg, followed by gamma-tocopherol ranging from 0.00 to 39.750 mg/kg. The total tocopherol content ranged between 83.900 and 173.800 mg/kg for rapeseed and between 52.100 and 213.075 mg/kg for olives. This study revealed that an important variability exists for tocopherol content and composition in rapeseed and olive varieties.