TY - JOUR AU - Gutiérrez, Luis Felipe AU - Rosada, Lina María AU - Jiménez, Álvaro PY - 2011/03/30 Y2 - 2024/03/29 TI - Chemical composition of Sacha Inchi (Plukenetia volubilis L.) seeds and characteristics of their lipid fraction JF - Grasas y Aceites JA - Grasas aceites VL - 62 IS - 1 SE - Research DO - 10.3989/gya044510 UR - https://grasasyaceites.revistas.csic.es/index.php/grasasyaceites/article/view/1301 SP - 76-83 AB - The seeds of Sacha inchi (<i>Plukenetia volubilis</i> L.) from Colombia were analyzed for their main chemical composition. Sacha inchi seeds (SIS) were rich in oil (41.4%) and protein (24.7%). The main minerals present in SIS were potassium (5563.5 ppm), magnesium (3210 ppm) and calcium (2406 ppm). A fatty acid analysis revealed that a-linolenic (50.8%) and linoleic (33.4%) acids were the main fatty acids in Sacha inchi oil (SIO). The lipid fractionation of SIO, obtained by solid phase extraction, yielded mainly neutral lipids (97.2%), and lower amounts of free fatty acids (1.2%) and phospholipids (0.8%). The physicochemical properties of the oil include: saponification number 185.2; iodine value 193.1; density 0.9187 g/cm<sup>3</sup>, refractive index 1.4791 and viscosity of 35.4 mPa.s. The melting profiles of SIO were characterized by the presence of one wide endothermic peak with a melting enthalpy of 23.2 J/g. Our results indicate that Sacha inchi is an important new crop with applications in the food and pharmaceutical industries. ER -