Extraction of Oil from Seed and Evaluation of Its Composition and Quality Characteristics.

The Allium plant genus has many species, among which (AI) from the family Amaryllidaceae is endemic to Iran. There is no report on the oil composition of AI seeds. In this study, oil from AI seeds was extracted by a solvent and its composition and quality characteristics were determined. The yield of seed oil was 14.3%. The most predominant unsaturated fatty acid was linoleic acid (64.4%), followed by oleic acid (16.9%), and the main saturated fatty acids were palmitic acid (13.6%) followed by stearic acid (2.8%). Beta-sitosterol (50.7%), campestrol (15.7%), and delta5-avenasterol (8.2%) were the most dominant phytosterols in extracted AI oil. The most dominant tocopherol was α-tocopherol (1188 ppm) along with low amounts of δ- and γ-tocopherols. The obtained results showed that the oil extracted from seeds of AI can be a valuable by-product of this plant with suitable nutritional indices and can be used as a new source of vegetable oil. Further research is required to reveal its potential pharmaceutical and food applications.