Abstract

The analysis of the fatty acid profile of an oil is important for optimizing its use in the processing and food industries. The present work evaluated the fatty acid profile from sunflower achene oil grown in the Brazilian semi-arid region and adjacent regions. The oleic, linoleic, palmitic and stearic acid contents were determined by gas chromatography (GC). An approximate 5 °C increase (from 19 °C to 24 °C) in the minimum temperature during lipid fraction (oil) formation in achenes yielded a 22.6% increase and a 21.9% decrease in the average oleic acid and linoleic acid contents (41.0% to 63.5% and 50.9% to 29.0%, respectively). The saturated fatty acids content tended to decrease as the minimum temperature increased, although the behavior depended on the environment and the tested genotypes. In general, genotypes Aguara 04 and CF 101 presented higher oleic acid and lower linoleic, palmitic and stearic acid contents than did the HELIO 250 and HELIO 251 genotypes.

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