Fatty acid composition and natural antioxidant capacity of ten Serbian linseed cultivars

Abstract

Literature data about nutritional characteristics of linseed cultivars from some specific geographical area or country is scarce. For that very reason, following paper is presenting fatty acid (FA) compositions and antioxidant capacity of lipid-soluble (ACL) components of ten native linseed cultivars from Serbia. These characteristics can be interesting, especially due to the increasing trend of linseed usage in human diet. Presented results show that there were statistically significant (p<0.05) differences between linseed kernels in FA composition. Negative correlation was found between FA C18:0 and α-linolenic acid (ALA). The cultivar with the highest ACL value was No. 10 (342.66 μmol trolox/kg d.m.), meaning that it had very strong protection against oxidation of polyunsaturated FAs. Nevertheless, correlation between ACL and polyunsaturated FA content in cultivars was not statistically significant (p=0.84). ACL of the samples did not depend on FA composition of linseed, but it might depend on characteristics of a specific cultivar. The aforementioned results show potential usage in storage of linseeds or its products, while FA composition of linseed kernels might be one of criteria for authentication of linseed origin, and can be of great help in future selection of the cultivars, depending on purpose of linseed production.

Keywords

• linseed
• native cultivars
• fatty acid
• antioxidant capacity