Evaluation of effects of refining processes on minor compounds of hazelnut oil

Hazelnut is a rich source of energy and contains 40-60% lipid. Because of its high oil content، essential fatty acids، phytosterols، antioxidants and minerals has a high nutritional value. However، phytosterol oxidation products (POPs) may have negative effects on health. In this study، effects of hazelnut oil refining were studied on fatty acid composition، phytosterols، POPs and tocopherols. Fatty acid composition، phytosterols and POPs after separation and enrichment with solid phase extraction (SPE) were analyzed with gas chromatography (GC) and tocopherols determined with high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Refining processes had negligible effects on fatty acid composition of analyzed hazelnut oil sample. However، refining processes had noticeable effects on phytosterols، POPs and tocopherols. In the refined oil، total amount of phytosterols، POPs and tocopherols were reduced from 1369. 8 ppm، 10. 57 ppm and 334. 4 ppm to 1061 ppm، 3. 19 ppm and 183 ppm، respectively.