Abstract

The composition of fatty acids (FA) and vitamin E in seed oils of Albezia lebbeck (AL), Citrus sinensis (CS), Terminalia catapa (TC), Tamarindus indica (TI) and Citrullus vulgaris (CV) was investigated. The oil yields were obtained by solvent extraction and analysed for fatty acids by Gas chromatography mass spectroscopy (GC-MS). The oil yields of the seeds were found to be AL 8.22± 0.55%, CS 20.00 ± 1.50%, TC 35.60 ± 1.60%, CV 24.00 ± 1.20% and TI 9.42 ± 1.30%. Both saturated and unsaturated FA were identified in all the seed oils with the latter being the predominant with 77.70% in CV, 60.76% in CS, 56.98% in AL, 54.58% in TC and 34.52% in TI. Vitamin E was highest in CV 27.51 ± 2.42mg/ml and lowest in TI 10.60 ± 1.50mg/ml. There was significant decrease in percentage saturated FA, increase in percentage unsaturated FA with increase in vitamins E concentration in all the seed oils. The oils have many FA such as oleic acid, eicosadienoic acid and ?-linoleic acid which could be of biological and industrial significance to humans.

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