Dorota Ogrodowska

Amaranth Seeds and Products – The Source of Bioactive Compounds

Abstract In recent years, new products obtained from amaranth seeds have entered the food market including expanded “popping” seeds and flakes. Lipids and biologically-active substances dissolved in these products are susceptible to changes. Additionally, due to the fact that fat quality has high dietary importance, there is a need to conduct detailed quality and quantity studies on the lipid composition of Amaranthus cruentus. For the samples under analysis, protein, fat, starch and ash content were determined. Fatty acids and sterols were analysed by gas chromatography. The analysis of tocopherols and squalene content was carried out with the application of high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with photodiode array and fl uorescence detectors (HPLC-DAD-FLD). Protein, fat and starch content did not change during seed processing. However in the case of tocopherols, the total tocopherol content was 10.6 mg/100 g for seeds, while in “popping” and in flakes it was reduced by approximately 35%. The squalene content ranged from 469.96 mg/100 g for seeds to 358.9 mg/100 g for flakes. No significant differences were observed in the fatty acid profile of seeds and products, but differences were observed in the sterol content.

Characteristics of Biologically-Active Substances of Amaranth Oil Obtained by Various Techniques

Amaranth seeds and their main product amaranth oil are a rich source of bioactive substances. The non-saponifi able substances which accompany lipids include: squalene, tocopherols, sterols and others. The aim of the study was to compare the content of squalene, tocopherols and phytosterols in amaranth oils obtained by various techniques. The oil was extracted from seeds (Amaranthus cruentus) with the use of supercritical fl uid extraction (SFE), extraction with a chloroform/methanol mixture and expeller pressing. Contents of squalene and tocopherols were determined with high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method. The content of sterols in oils was determined by gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The highest squalene content was found for the oil obtained as a result of supercritical CO2 extraction (6.95 g/100 g of oil). A lower content of squalene was noted in the oil extracted with organic solvents and in cold-pressed oil - 6.00 and 5.74 g/100 g of oil, respectively. The amaranth oils were characterised by a signifi cant content of tocopherols. The oil obtained as a result of fl uid extraction was characterised by the highest content of tocopherols (131.7 mg/100 g of oil). A dominating homologue (40%) was β-tocopherol. Also the same sample was characterised by the highest content of sterols (2.49 g/100 g of oil). In all samples the predominating sterol was sum of α-spinasterol and sitosterol, which accounted for 45%, 56% and 53% of total analysed sterols for the oil obtained from SFE, from extraction with solvents and from cold pressing, respectively.

Geometrical features of seeds of new pumpkin forms

Abstract Plant growers are looking for new crops which would make farms and processing plants more profitable. Currently, in Poland, waste-free pumpkin processing is mainly associated with pumpkin seed production, oil extraction, pulverization of pumpkin oil cake to obtain pumpkin meal, the small-scale use of flesh in food production, but mainly the utilisation of flesh as a feed additive. During technological processes applied for the processing of pumpkin seeds it is important to be familiar with their physical characteristics. The aim of this study was to analyse the geometric characteristics of the seeds of new nine forms of the pumpkin variety Olga, which were bred by researchers from the Department of Plant Genetics, Breeding and Biotechnology at the Warsaw University of Life Sciences. Geometrical features were measured using the Digital Image Analysis (DIA) set, consisting of a digital camera (Nikon DXM 1200), computer and lighting (KAISER RB HF). The following geometrical features were measured: length, width, diameter, perimeter, area, circularity and elongation. Additionally, thickness of the seeds was measured by a calliper. Seeds of the studied forms of hull-less pumpkins differed from the standards in the dimensions and shape, whereas significant differences were demonstrated for the Olga variety standard. The most variable geometric characteristic of the seeds under study was area, while the least variable geometric characteristics of the pumpkin seeds turned out to be the circularity and width.