PHYSICOCHEMICAL COMPOSITION AND OXIDATIVE STABILITY OF OPUNTIA FICUS-INDICA SEED OIL FROM MOROCCO

Oil yield, physicochemical, triglycerides, fatty acid composition, sterols, tocopherols and stability oxidative of Opuntia ficus-indica seed oil obtained by cold pressing extraction were determined. Oil yield was between 6-7%. Nine triacylglycerols were identified, the major being LLL (24.94%), LLO (21.31%), LLP (15.90%), and OOL (13.76%). The main fatty acids ranked in the following order of abundance: C18:2 (60.8%), C18:1 (21.3%), C16:0 (11.9%), C18:0 (3.4%). The quality and composition of some minor constituents of seed oil were determined. Total tocopherol content in seed oil was 94.6 mg/100 g, γ-tocopherol (90%) was the main constituent. the sterol composition is similar to that of other vegetable oils, level of sterols making up 90.33 mg/100 g seed oil was present. The sterol marker, β-sitosterol, accounted for 75.3% of the total sterol content in the seed oil. This oil presented a moderate content in phospholipids.