Characteristics of Prunus serotina seed oil

Oils from Prunus serotina raw and toasted seeds extracted with hexane and supercritical CO2 were evaluated for their physicochemical characteristics. Supercritical CO2 extracted the least oil (21.3%), with high absorbing carotenoid pigments. P. serotina oil had characteristically high refractive index and density with three typical absorbance peaks in the UVC (100–290 nm) range centred at 260, 270 and 280 nm. The oil was highly polyunsaturated and abundant in oleic (35%), α-elostearic (27%), linoleic (27%), palmitic (4%), stearic (4%) and β-elostearic (1%) acids. P. serotina seed oil exhibited at least three distinct thermal structural transitions between −35 and −13 °C with two reversing transitions between −19 and −12 °C. Thermal oxidation by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) revealed a three step oxidation of P. serotina seed oil with the mean onset and oxidation temperatures at 121 and 130–273 °C, respectively, depending on processing. Supercritical CO2 extraction and toasting significantly affected the thermal and oxidation characteristics, fluorescence, and fatty acids of oils.