Fatty Acid Profiles and Physicochemical Properties of Kernels from Four Senegalese Varieties of <i>Mangifera</i><i> </i><i>indica</i><i> </i>L

Abstract

The mango (<i>Mangifera</i><i> </i><i>indica</i>), belonging to the genus Mangifera of the family Anacardiaceae, is cultivated worldwide as an economically important fruit crop. It is also widely used in traditional medicine, which has stimulated growing interest in investigating and evaluating the therapeutic potential of its bioactive compounds. This study was carried out to assess physicochemical parameters and fatty acid composition of <i>Mangifera</i><i> </i><i>indica</i><i> </i>seed oil collected from four Senegalese varieties. The oil contents obtained for the four varieties were 7.08%, 7.5%, 7.3 and 7.11% respectively for Sewe, Bouka, Palmer and Dieg bou gate. The oils, which were characterized by Gas Chromatography (GC) with Flame Ionization Detector (FID), were mainly composed of stearic acid, ranging from 41.849 ± 0.048 to 47.793 ± 0.071%, and oleic acid from 31.085 ± 0.153 to 39.053 ± 0.050%. Among the four Senegalese mango cultivars, Palmer has the highest oleic acid content (39.053 ± 0.050%). Significant amounts of palmitic, linoleic, and arachidonic acids were also detected, while the remaining fatty acids in the mango kernel were present only in trace amounts. The saponification values were identified to be in the range of 212.9 - 234.2 mg KOH/g of oil, and the iodine values ranging from 50.4 to 59.7 g I<sub>2</sub> /100 g of oil. The study showed that oils from different Senegalese cultivars of <i>Mangifera</i><i> </i><i>indica</i> have potential for various industrial applications.