Oil quality evaluation of eleven sonoran desert leguminous seeds

Abstract

In order to generate information that lead to an efficient and diversifícate use of the natural resources that the Sonoran Desert offers, as it is the great variety of Leguminosae or Fabaceae plants, oils from seeds or Prosopis chilensis, Prosopis velutina (mezquite), Cercidium floridium (palo azul), Cercidium praecox (palo de brea), Acacia constricta (vinorama), Acacia cymbyspina (chirahui), Acacia occidentalis (tesota), Acacia mcmurphy (tepehuaje), Desmanthus palmeri (mezquitillo), Caesalpinia caladenia (palo dorado), and Caesalpinia pumila (palo piojo) were analyzed. The oils were extracted from each seed with hexane, and their physicochemical characteristics were evaluated. The oil content varied from 9 to 16% in the different seeds. Their indexes of acidity, peroxides and free fatty acid content were low and within the accepted values. Fatty acids separated by gas chromatography predominating indicate the oleic and linoleic. All analyzed crude oils were of good quality, comparable to commercial and oils of wild legume seeds from the same region.