Nuclear magnetic resonance for determining oil content of seeds

Twelve seed oils containing a variety of functional groups were examined with a commercial broad‐band nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectrometer. Instrument response (integrator readout) was directly related to hydrogen content of the oil (r=0.999), regardless of the structures present. NMR techniques were applied to the determination of oil in intact, partially dried seeds from 18 plant species containing 1.5舑53% oil having a variety of structures. The correlation between integrator readout (calculated to a uniform 25‐g sample weight) and oil content (determined by extraction with petroleum ether) is excellent (r=0.993). If the readout is further modified by a erratum for the variation in hydrogen content of the oils, the correlation becomes 0.996.