Evaluation of Fatty Acids Composition in Grain Oil of Cardoon (Cynara cardunculus L.)

The vegetable oils have different compositions, such as in fatty acids and antioxidants, enabling improved performance in food and industrial applications, as well as nutritional benefits. Among the different sources of vegetable oils, in the last years different studies were conducted to evaluate Cynara cardunculus L. cardunculus oil, through the obtained yields and the different ways of application. The aim of this paper is to study the genetic variability for grain oil production and fatty acid composition, in order to select genotypes suitable for oil production with known fatty acid characterization designed for different purposes. To reach the aim of the research, the oils were extracted using a Soxhlet apparatus from achenes of 12 types of Cynara cardunculus, 8 domestic cardoons and 4 wild cardoons, collected from native plant standing along the internal area of Sicily. Oil fatty acids characterization for unsaturated acids (linoleic and oleic) and saturated ones (stearic and palmitic acids) was performed by gas chromatography. The oil amount extracted from grains resulted, on average for all genotypes, in 216 g kg-1 of dry matter (DM); a good range of variability (CV of 11.7%) was observed. The domestic cardoon ‘DC6’ gave the highest oil concentration (253 g kg-1 DM), the domestic cardoon ‘DC2’ presented the lowest (185 g kg-1 DM). Unsaturated acids predominated over saturated ones. The main compound (as % of total oil), averaged for all genotypes, was oleic acid (49%), followed by linoleic acid (39%), palmitic acid (9%) and stearic acid (3%). Referring to the oleic acid, three domestic cardoon genotypes (‘DC1’, ‘DC3’ and ‘DC7’) showed values higher than 795 g kg-1 oil, while all the other genotypes had concentration lower than 370 g kg-1 oil. The variation found in grain oil amount and the characterization among types indicate that it is possible to improve the amount and quality of oil by genotype selection in relation to the field of application.