Fatty acid profiling of bottle gourd [Lagenaria siceraria (Mol.) Standl.] seed oil using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry

The present investigation was carried out to study the oil quality and estimate fatty acid (omega-3 and omega- 6) composition in bottle gourd using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Results indicated that the extracted bottle gourd seed oil was estimated to have an oil content (25.2%), polyunsaturated fatty acids viz., omega-3 (6.63%), omega-6 (69.74%) and others (0.17%), which play a major role in, cardiovascular health and has anti-inflammatory, anti-allergic and anti-cancer benefits. It also consisted of saturated fatty acids viz., palmitic acid (9.78%), stearic acid (4.45%) and others (0.97%) along with monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) (5.99%) without oleic acid (omega-9). Due to increased demand for specialty edible oil in both domestic and industrial use, it becomes necessary to exploit the potential of bottle gourd seeds as a novel source of edible oil. Being a rich source of omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids, which lacks omega-9 known for oxidative stability required for storage and cooking, it can be commercialized as cooking oil by blending it with edible oil rich in oleic acid or can also be supplied as an omega-6-rich capsule as a food supplement in future.