From By-Product to the Food Chain: Melon (<i>Cucumis melo</i> L.) Seeds as Potential Source for Oils
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 fatt...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2020-09-01
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| Series: | Foods |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2304-8158/9/10/1341 |
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| author | Adrián Rabadán M. Antónia Nunes Silvia M. F. Bessada José E. Pardo M. Beatriz P. P. Oliveira Manuel Álvarez-Ortí |
| author_facet | Adrián Rabadán M. Antónia Nunes Silvia M. F. Bessada José E. Pardo M. Beatriz P. P. Oliveira Manuel Álvarez-Ortí |
| author_sort | Adrián Rabadán |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | 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 (51–69%) and oleic (15–34%) acids. Regarding vitamin E, γ-tocopherol was the main isoform found in melon-seed oils (99.81–456.73 mg/kg), followed by α- and δ-tocopherols. Significant concentrations of tocotrienols (α, β, and γ) 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. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T16:07:23Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-2a566c1210df4bb6ba079137b2f3b9ea |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2304-8158 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T16:07:23Z |
| publishDate | 2020-09-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Foods |
| spelling | doaj.art-2a566c1210df4bb6ba079137b2f3b9ea2023-11-20T14:46:14ZengMDPI AGFoods2304-81582020-09-01910134110.3390/foods9101341From By-Product to the Food Chain: Melon (<i>Cucumis melo</i> L.) Seeds as Potential Source for OilsAdrián Rabadán0M. Antónia Nunes1Silvia M. F. Bessada2José E. Pardo3M. Beatriz P. P. Oliveira4Manuel Álvarez-Ortí5Higher Technical School of Agricultural and Forestry Engineering, University of Castilla-La Mancha, Campus Universitario s/n, 02071 Albacete, SpainREQUIMTE/LAQV, Department of Chemical Sciences, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Porto, R. Jorge Viterbo Ferreira, 228, 4050-313 Porto, PortugalREQUIMTE/LAQV, Department of Chemical Sciences, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Porto, R. Jorge Viterbo Ferreira, 228, 4050-313 Porto, PortugalHigher Technical School of Agricultural and Forestry Engineering, University of Castilla-La Mancha, Campus Universitario s/n, 02071 Albacete, SpainREQUIMTE/LAQV, Department of Chemical Sciences, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Porto, R. Jorge Viterbo Ferreira, 228, 4050-313 Porto, PortugalHigher Technical School of Agricultural and Forestry Engineering, University of Castilla-La Mancha, Campus Universitario s/n, 02071 Albacete, SpainFruit-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 (51–69%) and oleic (15–34%) acids. Regarding vitamin E, γ-tocopherol was the main isoform found in melon-seed oils (99.81–456.73 mg/kg), followed by α- and δ-tocopherols. Significant concentrations of tocotrienols (α, β, and γ) 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.https://www.mdpi.com/2304-8158/9/10/1341melon-seed oilfruit wastetocopherolstocotrienolsunsaturated fatty acidsscrew press |
| spellingShingle | Adrián Rabadán M. Antónia Nunes Silvia M. F. Bessada José E. Pardo M. Beatriz P. P. Oliveira Manuel Álvarez-Ortí From By-Product to the Food Chain: Melon (<i>Cucumis melo</i> L.) Seeds as Potential Source for Oils Foods melon-seed oil fruit waste tocopherols tocotrienols unsaturated fatty acids screw press |
| title | From By-Product to the Food Chain: Melon (<i>Cucumis melo</i> L.) Seeds as Potential Source for Oils |
| title_full | From By-Product to the Food Chain: Melon (<i>Cucumis melo</i> L.) Seeds as Potential Source for Oils |
| title_fullStr | From By-Product to the Food Chain: Melon (<i>Cucumis melo</i> L.) Seeds as Potential Source for Oils |
| title_full_unstemmed | From By-Product to the Food Chain: Melon (<i>Cucumis melo</i> L.) Seeds as Potential Source for Oils |
| title_short | From By-Product to the Food Chain: Melon (<i>Cucumis melo</i> L.) Seeds as Potential Source for Oils |
| title_sort | from by product to the food chain melon i cucumis melo i l seeds as potential source for oils |
| topic | melon-seed oil fruit waste tocopherols tocotrienols unsaturated fatty acids screw press |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2304-8158/9/10/1341 |
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