Some rape/canola seed oils: fatty acid composition and tocopherols

Seed samples of some rape and canola cultivars were analysed for oil content, fatty acid and tocopherol profiles. Gas liquid chromotography and high performance liquid chromotography were used for fatty acid and tocopherol analysis, respectively. The oil contents of rape and canola seeds varied between 30.6% and 48.3% of the dry weight (p < 0.05). The oil contents of rapeseeds were found to be high compared with canola seed oils. The main fatty acids in the oils are oleic (56.80-64.92%), linoleic (17.11-20.92%) and palmitic (4.18-5.01%) acids. A few types of tocopherols were found in rape and canola oils in various amounts: alpha-tocopherol, gamma-tocopherol, delta-tocopherol, beta-tocopherol and alpha-tocotrienol. The major tocopherol in the seed oils of rape and canola cultivars were alpha-tocopherol (13.22-40.01%) and gamma-tocopherol (33.64-51.53%) accompanied by alpha-T3 (0.0-1.34%) and delta-tocopherol (0.25-1.86%) (p < 0.05). As a result, the present study shows that oil, fatty acid and tocopherol contents differ significantly among the cultivars.