Comparison and evaluation of oil content, composition and antioxidant properties of Pistacia atlantica and Pistacia khinjuk grown as wild.

The growing demands of consumers for edible seed oils containing high unsaturated fatty acid and antioxidant content have resulted in considerable efforts to investigate plants as possible sources of oils and nuts. In this research, the amount of fatty acid compositions, total flavonoid, phenol and antioxidant properties of Pistacia atlantica and Pistacia khinjuk were evaluated. The kernel oil content of P. atlantica and P. khinjuk were 24.33 ± 0.333% and 31.00 ± 0.577%, respectively. Palmitic acid, Stearic acid, Oleic acid, Linoleic acid, and Palmitoleic acid were the main components in the oil of the two Pistacia species. The results showed that unsaturated fatty acids accounted for approximately 77.65% and 74.87% of total fatty acids in P. atlantica and P. khinjuk, respectively. The two Pistacia species were rich in phenolic compounds (130.77± 3.11 and 126.91± 4.41 mg quercetin/100 g oil) and had high antioxidant properties (4.545± 0.655 and 15.733± 0.689 mg/g oil) in P. atlantica and P. khinjuk, respectively. Oil content and Oleic acid of the two species of Pistacia are shown/known to be higher than some other edible oils. This research showed that the kernel oil of the two species of Pistacia have the same value in terms of quality, taste and natural antioxidant qualities with other edible oils.