Composition of Fatty Acids and Tocopherols in Cherry and Lychee Seed Oils

The fruit seed from two small fruits namely cherry (Prunus avium L.) and lychee (Litchi chinensis Sonn.) were analyzed for their oil yields, fatty acids and tocopherols composition. The oil content, extracted with hexane, from cherry and lychee fruit seed was found to be 4.1 and 3.2 %, respectively. Cherry fruit seed oil was characterized by the presence of high content of oleic acid (47.3%), followed by linoleic acid (30.6%) and α- eleostearic acid (9.2%) while lychee seed oil mainly contained dihydrosterculic acid (46.9%), oleic acid (29.3%) and linolenic acid (3.6%). The ratio of polyunsaturates to monounsaturates to saturates varied considerably between the seed oils tested. Besides, the oils from cherry and lychee exhibited appreciable amount (mg/kg) of α-, γ- and δ- tocopherols with contribution of 126.7, 223.1, 18.2 and 235.8, 97.3, 132.6, respectively. The results of this study advocate the uses of these under-utilized small fruit resources for oil production. The characterized oils, being a good source of unsaturated fatty acids and antioxidant totocopherols, could be explored for edible or oleochemical uses.