Fatty acids and Macroelements of Moringa (M. peregrina and M. oleifera) Seed Oils

Abstract

Background and Objective: Recent years have shown increased interest in cultivating Moringa and producing its oil in Saudi Arabia. This study aimed to determine the fatty acids and macroelements in oils from two species of Moringa [M. peregrina (MP) and M. oleifera (MO)] seeds. Methodology: MP oils were extracted using solvent- and pressing-based methods and MO oils were extracted using a solvent-based method. The fatty acid composition and macroelement contents in the oil samples were determined through gas chromatography (GC) and inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), respectively. Results: The approximate chemical composition of Moringa seeds showed that the MP seeds exhibited a higher oil content (49.19%) than the MO seeds (33.69%), whereas the MO seeds had significantly higher contents of protein (37.78%), fiber (5.10%) and ash (3.69%) than the MP seeds (27.67, 4.86 and 2.56%, respectively). The dominant fatty acids in Moringa oils were saturated palmitic acid and monounsaturated oleic acid, which were present in content ranges of 8.99-78.05% and 9.86-77.33% in the solvent- and press-extracted MP oils, respectively. These amounts were considered significantly higher than the amounts found in solvent-extracted MO oil (6.18-74.87%), which has significantly higher potassium and magnesium contents (36.67 and 5.86 ppm) than solvent-extracted MP oil (9.07 and 0.95 ppm) and the determined macroelements were found at undetectable levels in the press-extracted MP oils. Conclusion: This study spotlights the possibility of producing edible oil from local Moringa seeds that contains a high monounsaturated fatty acid (oleic acid) content and satisfactory concentrations of potassium and magnesium and can thus be used in different applications.