Cold-pressed pumpkin seed (Cucurbita pepo L.) oils from the central Anatolia region of Turkey: Characterization of phytosterols, squalene, tocols, phenolic acids, carotenoids and fatty acid bioactive compounds

Abstract

There is a growing interest in cold-pressed oils because they present high contents of bioactive compounds. These oils have the characteristic properties of seeds and are specific products of their regions. The aim of this study was to determine the compositions and contents of fatty acids, phytosterols, squalene, tocols, phenolic acids, carotenoids and phenolic bioactives, and the free radical scavenging as well as antioxidant activities of cold-pressed pumpkin (Cucurbita pepo L.) seed oils. Oil samples from raw pumpkin seeds cultivated in four different central Anatolia regions of Turkey were prepared using a laboratory screw-pressing machine. The results indicate that cold-pressed pumpkin seed oils (PSO) have excellent quality with high contents of polyunsaturated fatty acids (%ΣPUFAs) (53.60 ±0.06-53.73 ±0.05), total phytosterols (782.1±9.7–805.2 ±11.3 mg/100 g oil), squalene (591.3±10.6–632.5±11.4 mg/100 g oil), tocols (97.79 ±0.76?94.29 ±0.34 mg/100 g oil), phenolic acids (22.73 ±0.41–23.98 ±0.46 mg/100 g oil), carotenoids (6.95 ±0.03–7.60 ±0.03 mg/100 g oil), total phenolics (3.96 ±0.13 –5.82±0.15 mg GAE/100 g), free radical-scavenging activity (5.70 ±0.13?7.35 ±0.15 mg GAE/100 g) and total antioxidant activity (26.67±0.97-38.89±1.41 mg GAE/100 g) values. Thus, this study demonstrates that the cold- pressed PSOs from the central Anatolia regions of Turkey are an excellent source of natural bioactive compounds, free of chemical contaminants and nutritious.