Fatty Acid and Glycerolipid Changes During Tunisian Myrtle (Myrtus Communis Var. Italica) Fruit Ripening

Abstract

The neutral and polar glycerolipids as well as their fatty acid distribution in Myrtus communis var. italica fruit during its maturation were investigated. The increase of fruit weight (from 2.54 to 8.79%) during the ripening process was correlated positively with that of moisture (from 28.01 to 72.02%) and total lipid (TL; from 0.79 to 2.90%) contents. Myrtle fruit ripening was characterized by an increase in the neutral glycerolipid (NL) proportions (from 39.67 to 92.42% of TL) mainly represented by triacylglycerol (TAG) and a decrease of the levels of phospholipids (PL; from 41.09 to 4.32% of TL) and glycolipids (GL; from 19.23 to 3.25% of TL). Total fatty acids (TFA) of the fruit TLs were rich in linoleic .03% of TFA), oleic (6.49-21.89% of TFA) and a-linolenic (3.25-17.98% of TFA) acids. The fatty acid composition of TL was similar to that of different NL classes with the increase of polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) proportions (from 16.57 to 74.58% of TFA) despite of saturated fatty acid (SFA; from 55.91 to 18.38% of TFA) and monounsaturated fatty acid (MUFA; from 27.39 to 7.02% of TFA) ones during the fruit ripening. However, the influence of fruit maturation on the PUFA proportions in different PL and GL fractions were obvious in contrast to those of in NL. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONSFrom a fundamental point of view, the survey of the evolution of the main fatty acids in neutral and polar glycerolipids could provide information about 2 Corresponding

Myrtus Communis Liquor Byproduct as a Source of Bioactive Compounds

“…Interestingly, pericarps showed a higher proportion of LNA and saturated and unsaturated long chain FAs when compared with seeds ( p < 0.01). In general, these results are in line with the FA composition of seeds and pericarps of fresh myrtle berries as reported in previous studies [33,34]. However, a different FA profile was reported by Cakir [35], who found the OA content of seeds and mesocarps to be 64% and 72%, respectively, with LA accounting for only 12.7% and 1.7%, respectively.…”

Characterization of myrtle seed ( Myrtus communis var. baetica ) as a source of lipids, phenolics, and antioxidant activities

“…To date, most studies in this area have focused on extraction of essential oils [ 5 – 15 ], lipids [ 4 , 16 ], phenolic compounds, and on utilizing antioxidant activities of myrtle fruit [ 17 – 23 ]. By contrast, it is hard to find any data in the literature about myrtle seed except our two previous studies [ 4 , 22 ].…”