Extraction of Omega 5 (ω-5) a Pharmacologically Active Ingredient from the Waste Parts of Pomegranate Seeds

Sibel Oğuzkan and Mehmet Özaslan

Background and Objective: Pomegranate seed oil (PSO) is important because of its positive effects on human health due to its antidiabetic, hypolipidemic, anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer activity properties. Pomegranate seeds are a rich source of conjugated linolenic acid as a metabolite of punicic acid (PA), derived from the omega 5 family (ω-5). Therefore, the extraction and amount of pomegranate seed oil were evaluated in this study. Materials and Methods: For this purpose, the total oil yield and ω-5 amounts in the seeds were determined by different drying methods applied to the beans obtained from three different phenotypes, namely Hicaz, Nuz and Devedişi. Solid-liquid extraction method was used to determine ω-5 amounts and total fat ratios. Results: When the total oil yields were compared, the highest yield was obtained in the natural drying method for all three species. The highest total oil yield was obtained from naturally dried Nuz pomegranate seeds with a value of 9.08%. Considering the total oil yields of other species, it was determined that the efficiency was 8.09% in natural dried seeds of Hicaz pomegranate and 4.36% in natural dried seeds of Devedişi. Oil yield was determined as 4.08% in Hicaz pomegranate, from which oil was extracted after drying in the oven and 3.97% in Devedişi pomegranate. Conclusion: Considering the amount of ω-5 detected by the gas chromatography device, the highest value was observed at 65.973% in the oil obtained from Devedişi pomegranate dried in the shade. As a result, the presence of pharmacologically effective ω-5 in different pomegranate phenotypes was detected in this study.

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