Nutritional composition of Zizyphus lotus L. seeds

• Published in: Journal of the science of food and agriculture Vol. 92; no. 6; pp. 1171 - 1177
• Main Authors: Chouaibi, Moncef, Mahfoudhi, Nesrine, Rezig, Leila, Donsì, Francesco, Ferrari, Giovanna, Hamdi, Salem
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Chichester, UK John Wiley & Sons, Ltd 01.04.2012; Wiley; John Wiley and Sons, Limited
• Subjects: analysis; aspartic acid; bioactive properties; Biological and medical sciences; calcium; chemical and physical parameters; chemistry; cosmetics; Fat industries; fatty acid composition; Fatty Acids; Fatty Acids - analysis; Food industries; Food science; foods; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; glutamic acid; glycerol; Humans; industry; leucine; magnesium; Micronutrients; Micronutrients - analysis; minerals; Nutritive Value; oil; oleic acid; physicochemical properties; Plant Oils; Plant Oils - chemistry; Plant Proteins; Plant Proteins - analysis; potassium; Proteins; seed oils; Seeds; Seeds - chemistry; thermal profile; Vegetable oils; vegetable protein; Ziziphus; Ziziphus - chemistry; Zizyphus lotus Mill. seeds; Seeds; Oil; Zizyphus lotus Mill; Physical parameter; fatty acid composition; Chemical composition; thermal profile; Profile; chemical and physical parameters
• ISSN: 0022-5142; 1097-0010; 1097-0010
• DOI: 10.1002/jsfa.4659

BACKGROUND: Zizyphus lotus seeds are an unutilized source of vegetable oil and protein and nothing has been reported on their physicochemical characteristics which would indicate the potential uses of these seeds. RESULTS: The percentage composition of the Zizyphus lotus seeds is (on a dry‐weight basis): ash 1.05%, oil 32.92%, protein 19.11%, total carbohydrate 40.87% and moisture 6.05%. Calcium, potassium and magnesium constitute the major minerals of Zizyphus lotus seeds. The seed proteins are rich in threonine, glutamic acid, leucine, arginine and aspartic acid (26.73%, 17.28%, 13.11%, 9.47% and 7.76%, respectively). The main fatty acids of the oil are oleic (61.93%), linoleic (18.31%) and palmitic (9.14%) acids. Glycerol trioleate (OOO; O: oleic acid) was the most abundant triacylglycerol, representing 26.48% of the total triacyglycerols. β‐Tocopherol was the major tocopherol (130.47 mg 100 g−1). This oil was rich in Δ7‐campestrol and β‐sitosterol (147.82 and 82.10 mg 100 g−1 oil), respectively. CONCLUSION: Zizyphus lotus seeds are rich in fat and protein which are of potential industrial significance. In addition, Zizyphus lotus L. seed oil contained many bioactive compounds. This fact is of great economic interest owing to several applications of Zizyphus lotus L. seeds in the food, cosmetics and medicinal industries. Copyright © 2011 Society of Chemical Industry