Chemical Evaluation of Oil Extracted from the Pulp of Two Varieties of Avocado Fruit Cultivated in North of Iran

The plants are the main edible oil sources for food, industrial and pharmaceutical uses. Different sources of oil due to their different composition and components might not be effective alone to fulfilled the nutritional needs, therefore various researches in the field of oil recourses is essential. This study is concerned with the evaluation of oils extracted from two varieties of avocado fruit which were obtained from North of Iran (Mazandaran). The pulp of each variety was subjected to oil extraction. The oils extracted from the pulps were subjected to a series of chemical tests consisting of fatty acids composition, free fatty acids content, iodine and saponification values, nonsaponifiable matter content, induction period measurements and qualitative and quantitative analysis of sterols and tocopherols. The results of the fatty acids analysis showed that the predominant fatty acid was oleic followed by palmitic, linoleic and palmitoleic acids. The results indicated that Fuerte variety had the highest amount of free fatty acid and iodine value and Hass variety had the highest amount of nonsaponifiable matter and saponification value. β-sitosterol and α- tocopherol were the predominant sterol and tocopherol present in the oils examined respectively. According to these results, Hass variety has more desirable characteristics and higher oil content and generally the oil might be compared to olive oil in terms of nutritional values.