Chemical composition and biological activity of seed oil of amaranth varieties

Abstract

The work is devoted to study of seed oil composition of amaranth varieties: Kharkov, Lera, Andijan and Helios, acclimatized in Uzbekistan. We demonstrated the possibility of using reversed-phase HPLC using a refractometric detector, which allows simultaneous determination of squalene and triacylglycerides in plant seeds and determining the authenticity of amaranth oils. Established seed oiliness ranged from 6.39 to 7.81 % of the initial mass. Amaranth oil samples contained quite large amount of unsaturated fatty acids 72.72 – 73.28 %, 1.17 % of which is omega-3-alpha-linolenic acid. The squalene content in the seeds ranged from 0.35 % to 0.55 %. It was established that the squalene content in oils obtained by extraction is greater than the one obtained by cold pressing. In the triacylglyceride composition of the investigated cold-pressed and extracted oils, no significant differences were found.

Differences in Seed Weight, Amino Acid, Fatty Acid, Oil, and Squalene Content in γ-Irradiation-Developed and Commercial Amaranth Varieties (Amaranthus spp.)

“…According to the reports, oil content was influenced by amaranth species, cultivar, agrotechnical practices, and growing location. This is also supported by the findings of other authors [ 54 , 56 ]. They determined oil contents in Amaranthus cruentus and Amaranthus hypochondriacus from 6.39 to 8.20%, whereas in another study oil levels ranged from 1.09 to 5.00% in Amaranthus cruentus and from 3.03 to 5.97% in Amaranthus hypochondriacus [ 13 ].…”

“…The saturated FA comprised on average 24.03% of the total FA and the unsaturated FA 75.00%, leading to an average saturated/unsaturated ratio of 0.32. Similar values were determined by other authors [ 14 , 55 , 56 ].…”

“…The average content of linoleic acid was around 42%, which was similar to findings reported by Hlinková et al [ 56 ] who analyzed 10 amaranth genotypes with an average linoleic acid content of 40.90% in Plainsman and 42.60% in Koniz. The highest content of linoleic acid was detected in mutant variety “Zobor” (46.06%) and was about 11% higher compared to its nonirradiated control K-433.…”

“…However, others [ 54 ] detected an average value of palmitic acid in Amaranthus hypochondriacus (31.50%) and in Amaranthus cruentus (31.30%). The content of another saturated FA, stearic acid, ranges according to different species and different authors reported yields from 0.1% in Amaranhus asplundii to 4.1% in Amaranthus dubius [ 14 , 55 , 56 ]. The average content of stearic acid detected in our study was 3.51%.…”

Comparative chemical composition of seeds of amaranth varieties introduced in Uzbekistan

“…Approximately 100 000 ha in Russia is expected as amaranth growing area (Moudry et al 1999). Four new varieties belonging to A. hypochondriacus (Kharkov and Lera) and A. cruentus (Andijan and Helios) species have been recently acclimatized in Uzbekistan (Bozorov et al 2018). Amaranth seed has been widely investigated.…”