| Abstract
| - Seed oil of wild Amaranthus caudatus from Ecuador was analyzed for determining the tocopherol,fatty acid, and sterol contents. The data obtained were compared with the analogous chemical profileof seed oil of Italian A. caudatus with the objective of evaluating the nutraceutical and alimentarypotential of the Ecuadorian matrix. Supercritical fluid and ultrasound-enhanced extractions wereperformed on both matrices. Qualitative and quantitative determinations of tocopherols wereperformed by HPLC, whereas GC and GC-MS were used to determine the fatty acid compositionand sterols, respectively. Supercritical fluid extraction at 400 atm was the most efficient extractionmethod in terms of both total yield extract and tocopherol yield. Seeds of Ecuadorian of A. caudatuscontained higher levels of tocopherols than Italian samples, whereas the fatty acid compositionand sterol content were similar. From the obtained results it can be suggested that seed oil of wildEcuadorian A. caudatus can prove to be an effective nutraceutical and alimentary resource and avalid alternative to the European varieties. Keywords: Amaranthus caudatus; tocopherols; fatty acids; sterols; squalene; supercritical fluidextraction; nutraceuticals; alimentary resource
|
