Comparative lipidomics analysis of seed oils from nine tropical fruits: Emphasizing the fatty acid and lipid molecule profiles

Abstract

While tropical fruit seeds are considered potential sources of functional or edible vegetable oils, their lipid profiles are poorly documented. Herein, the lipid profiles of nine tropical fruit seed oils were systematically evaluated and compared using lipidomics and chemometrics techniques. Cherimoya exhibited the highest total lipid content, while avocado had the lowest. Canistel, cherimoya, and durian displayed a 9cC18:1 predominance. The remaining six seed oils were dominated by 9c12cC18:2n-6. In total, 1370 lipid molecules were identified, with triacylglycerol being the predominant subclass. Passion fruit, cherimoya, and durian had the highest glycerolipid, sphingolipid, and fatty acyl contents, respectively. Litchi exhibited the highest levels of glycerophospholipid and saccharolipid. Chemometric modeling screened 134 differential lipid molecules as markers for distinguishing between various tropical fruit seed oils. Positive correlations were primarily observed among the differential lipid molecules. Overall, these findings provide valuable insights into the integrated utilization of tropical fruit seed oils.