From By-Product to the Food Chain: Melon (Cucumis melo L.) Seeds as Potential Source for Oils
2020
Adrián Rabadán | M. Antónia Nunes | Silvia M. F. Bessada | José E. Pardo | M. Beatriz P. P. Oliveira | Manuel Álvarez-Ortí
Fruit-processing industries annually discard large volumes of fruit by-products. Thousands of tons of melon seeds could be recovered through the year from melon production. These seeds are an excellent source of vegetable oil with significant health-promoting properties due to their unsaturated fatty acid profile and high content of specific bioactive compounds. However, little information exists about the influence of melon cultivars and oil-extraction methods on oil characteristics. In this study, oils from nine different melon cultivars were evaluated. Additionally, two oil-extraction methods (screw and hydraulic press) were studied. Results showed that melon seeds may be used as a novel source of healthy oils. Higher-quality oils were obtained with the hydraulic press: however, low yields reduced industrial interest in this method. Oils extracted from the different cultivars showed high variability in the content of linoleic (51&ndash:69%) and oleic (15&ndash:34%) acids. Regarding vitamin E, &gamma:-tocopherol was the main isoform found in melon-seed oils (99.81&ndash:456.73 mg/kg), followed by &alpha:- and &delta:-tocopherols. Significant concentrations of tocotrienols (&alpha:, &beta:, and &gamma:) were also found. Although all cultivars showed positive attributes, principal-component analysis (PCA) showed that Honey Dew and Blanco de Ribatejo could be specifically considered as a potential source of polyunsaturated oils with high concentrations of vitamin E.
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