EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF LIPID SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, cilt.120, sa.10, 2018 (SCI-Expanded)
The aroma and fatty acid compositions of selected Iranian nut oils including bitter almond, sweet almond, walnut, and hazelnut oils are analyzed. The volatile compounds are extracted using purge and trap extraction and identified by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). In total, 21, 24, 25, and 37 aroma compounds are detected in extracts of bitter almond, sweet almond, walnut, and hazelnut oils, respectively. A total of 54 different volatile compounds composed of aldehydes, alcohols, terpenes, carboxylic acids, pyrazines, ketones, furans, and lactones are identified and quantified. Among them, aldehydes present the highest quantity of the overall volatiles in all samples, followed by terpenes in bitter and sweet almond oils, alcohols in walnut oil, and carboxylic acids in hazelnut oil. In addition to aroma compounds, a total of 15 fatty acids are identified and quantified in all oils. Among them, oleic acid in bitter almond, sweet almond, and hazelnut oils, while linoleic acid in walnut oils show the highest concentration. In addition, oleic acid is more dominant in hazelnut oil (80.48%) than the others. The findings of principal component analysis (PCA) exhibits that oils are discriminately different from each other according to fatty acids and aroma profiles.