Differences in chemical components and antioxidant-related substances in virgin coconut oil from coconut hybrids and their parents

Chumphon Horticultural Research Centre (CHRC) is Thailand’s main coconut research unit. CHRC has developed three coconut cultivars: Sawi Hybrid No. 1 (Malayan Yellow Dwarf x West African Tall: MYD x WAT), Chumphon Hybrid No. 60 (Thai Tall: THT x WAT) and Chumphon Hybrid No. 2 (MYD x THT). This study compared some chemical components in virgin coconut oil (VCO) from coconut hybrids with their parents. The VCO was extracted by cold pressing and fermentation methods, and was analyzed for fatty acid profiles, triacylglycerol profile, acid value, tocopherol content, total phenolic content, and antioxidant activity against DPPH (1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl) radicals. The findings showed that hybrids contained lauric acid ranging from 46.63 to 48.34% of total fatty acid. Chumphon 60 had the highest lauric acid content, 48.34% of total fatty acids, which was not significantly different (p > 0.05) from that of the parents. In contrast, the cultivars from MYD, Sawi 1 and Chumphon 2, had significantly greater lauric acid content than the parent MYD (p ≤ 0.05). Cold pressing and fermentation provided an oil extraction yield of 25 and 20%, respectively. The proportions of lauric acid in VCO from these two methods were not significantly different (p > 0.05), but the cold pressing method resulted in higher tocopherol content (p ≤ 0.05). The VCO of Chumphon 60 from the cold pressed method had tocopherol content close to that of the parent WAT (p > 0.05) but significantly higher than that of the other parent THT (p ≤ 0.05). In addition, it contained the highest total phenolic contents among the three cultivars, 57.89 mg GAE/100 g oil, leading to antioxidant activity with a low EC50 of 0.53 mg GAE/ml. Overall, the hybrid of WAT x THT, Chumphon 60, was outstanding among the cultivars; it had the highest levels of lauric acid, total phenolic compounds, and antioxidant activity.