SEED PROPERTIES AND FATTY ACID COMPOSITION OF FLAXSEED OIL (LINUM USITATISSIMUM)
*Dr. Nusiba Taha Altyb Albasheer Fazary and Pro. Younis Mohammed Younis
ABSTRACT
The seedoil of flax Linum usitatissimum was extracted from the finely powdered seed using petroleum ether in a soxhlet extraction until for 18hr. The flax seed properties were found to be as follows: 24.90% oil, 4.80% moisture, 23.84% protein, 3.80 % ash, 22.11% fibre and 20.55% carbohydrate. The oil content was found to be 25%. The physiochemical properties of the oil were determined and found to be: colour yellow, specific gravity was 0.92919 g/cm3, Iodine value was180(gI2/100g oil), saponification value was 210 mg/KOH/g, acid value was 3.5% and refractive index was 1.478. The fatty acid composition of the oil was determined via identification and quantitation of the fatty acid esters via GC-MS
analysis. The analysis of the GC-MS chromatogram has shown: linolenic acid C18:2 (39.19%) and stearic acid C18:0 (30.2%), as major constituents of the oil representing 69.4% of fatty acid composition, and the minor constituents are linoleic C18:2 (15.6%) and palomitic acid C16:0(10.1%), representing 25.7% of the fatty acid composition of the oil. 15 fatty acids were detected as trace components. The antifungal activity of the oil of Linum usitatissimum L. seeds were screened against Aspergillus niger (As. niger) and Candida albicana (Ca. albicana) using agar-well diffusion method and the efficacy of the antifungal activity of the oil was conducted in comparison with the activity if antifungal drug (itracenazol). The oil in a concentration of 100 mg/cm3 demonstrated high inhibitory effect against As. niger. The oil has shown a moderate activity against Ca. albicana. Moreover, the oil has exhibits a moderate antioxidant activity which demonstrates positive health benefits of the oil.
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