The Effect of Harvesting Time on Seed Oil Content and Fatty Acid Composition of Some Lemon and Mandarin Cultivars Grown in Turkey

Citrus fruits usually processed into juice. The main residues are peel and seeds for citrus fruits after juice production. In order to evaluate the seeds for alternative usages; the oil content and fatty acid compositions of four mandarin (Citrus reticulata) and three lemon cultivars (Citrus limon) were determined with respect to their harvesting times. Oil content and fatty acid compositions of the samples were significantly (P<0.05) varied depends on cultivars and their harvesting times for each citrus species. Oil content ranged from 21.66 to 37.75% for these seeds. These results revealed that citrus seeds contain much more oil than many oil seeds. The citrus seeds oil combined from eight different fatty acids. The highest fatty acid was determined as linoleic acid (35.64-37.39%) for mandarin and oleic acid (32.99-36.39%) for lemon seed oil. These results revealed that citrus seeds could be valued as an edible oil source and other industrial area with respect to fatty acid composition.