Fatty acids from Tunisian and Chinese pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) seeds.

Pomegranate seed oil is considered a powerful health-benefiting agent due to its anti-oxidative and anticarcinogenic properties. Lipids from 21 pomegranate cultivars (15 Tunisian and 6 Chinese) were extracted and fatty acids were identified. Total lipids (16% on a dry weight basis) are mainly unsaturated (ca. 88%). Qualitatively, the pomegranate fatty acid composition is identical. Quantitatively, the predominant fatty acid was linolenic acid (44.51-86.14%), followed by linoleic acid (3.57-13.92%), oleic acid (3.03-12.88%), palmitic acid (3.13-11.82%), stearic acid (1.68-15.64%), gadoleic acid (0.50-4.91%), lignoceric acid ( < 2.53%), arachidic acid ( < 1.70%) and myristic acid ( < 0.85%). Statistical methods revealed how Chinese and Tunisian pomegranate fatty acid contents may be affected by the sampling location.