Effect of Storage Conditions on the Oil Quality of Chinese Tallow Tree Seeds

• Published in: Journal of the American Oil Chemists' Society Vol. 87; no. 5; pp. 573 - 582
• Main Authors: Terigar, Beatrice G, Balasubramanian, Sundar, Boldor, Dorin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Berlin/Heidelberg : Springer-Verlag 01.05.2010; Springer-Verlag; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Acidity; Agriculture; Atmosphere; Biodiesel; Biofuels; Biological and medical sciences; Biomaterials; Biotechnology; Carbon dioxide; Chemistry; Chemistry and Materials Science; Chinese tallow tree; Environmental conditions; Ethanol; Fat industries; Fatty acids; Food industries; Food Science; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Industrial Chemistry/Chemical Engineering; Invasive species; Moisture content; Oil quality; Oils & fats; Original Paper; Preservation; Sapium sebiferum; Seeds; Storage; Trees; Storage; Chinese tallow tree; Preservation; Biodiesel; Oil quality; Seeds; Oils and fats industry; Oil; Alternative motor fuel; Warehousing; Tallow; Sapium sebiferum; Quality; Food preservation; Tree
• ISSN: 0003-021X; 1558-9331
• DOI: 10.1007/s11746-009-1529-6

The Chinese tallow tree (TT) has been widely considered to be an invasive species in the US without potential benefits. However, the literature on TT seeds is scarce and the effect of storage conditions on seed oil quality in particular has not been published to our knowledge. Prior research revealed that TT has a very high yield of seeds containing large percentages of long and short chain fatty acids (mainly palmitic fatty acid, along with some oleic, linoleic and linolenic fatty acids), which can be base transesterified into biodiesel. This study aims to address the issue of the quality of the kernel oil of TT seeds stored at different temperatures (4 °C and room temperature) and under controlled atmosphere storage conditions (3% CO₂, 6% CO₂, vacuum, normal headspace). The total storage time was 3 months with the oil quality being analyzed weekly. Extracted oil was analyzed by titratable acidity, peroxide value, oxidative stability index and fatty acid composition. These experiments provided evidence that, after 12 weeks of storage, a controlled atmosphere did not produce any remarkable advantage over low cost air storage. The results validate the belief that no elaborate storage conditions are required to store this economically promising high oil content biofuel feedstock.