Chamaerops humilis L. var. argentea André date palm seed oil: a potential dietetic plant product.

Chamaerops humilis L. var. argentea André (C. humilis) date palm seeds are an underutilized source of vegetable oil, and no studies describing their physicochemical characteristics to indicate the potential uses of this seed or seed oil have been reported. The oil content of the seeds is about 10%, mainly composed of oleic acid (38.71%), lauric acid (21.27%), linoleic acid (15.15%), palmitic acid (9.96%), and stearic acid (7.17%). The tocol (tocopherols and tocotrienols) content is 74 mg/100 g, with δ-tocotrienol as the major contributor (31.91%), followed by α-tocotrienol (29.37%), γ-tocopherol (20.16%), and γ-tocotrienol (11.86%). Furthermore, this oil shows high thermal stability. The differential scanning calorimetery curves revealed that the melting and crystallization points are 9.33 °C and -15.23 °C, respectively.