Total lipid content, fatty acids and 4-desmethylsterols accumulation in developing fruit of Pistacia lentiscus L. growing wild in Tunisia

► Exploitation of forest resources. ► Pistacia lentiscus provides good oil yield and good performance in oleic and linoleic acid. ► High linoleic acid and phytosterol content in the first stage of maturation. ► Fruit of P. lentiscus seem to be an interesting source for the production of vegetable oil. This research has determined oil, fatty acid and sterol contents of the Tunisian Pistacialentiscus (Lentisc) fruits during maturation. Low oil accumulation was observed during the first 35days after the fruiting (DAF) date (from 1.83% to 2.57%). After that, two phases were distinguished (35th until the 60th and 105th to the 145th DAF), where the rate of oil accumulation increased significantly. At the last stage of maturation, the lentisc fruits had the highest percentage of lipid content, 42.54%. The changing profile of fatty acids during maturation had been marked mainly by an increase in oleic acid content (from 19.49% to 50.72%) paralleling a decrease in linoleic acid content (from 42.5% to 21.75%). At the 15th DAF, the alpha-linolenic acid was found with a maximum of 13.81%. At full maturity, the main fatty acids were oleic acid, followed by palmitic and linoleic acid. Other fatty acids were present in trace proportions, such as palmitoleic, stearic, linolenic, gadoleic and arachidic acid. In all stages of ripening only four sterols were identified and quantified. β-Sitosterol was the major 4-desmethylsterol in samples tested, followed by campesterol. Cholesterol and stigmasterol were detected in trace amounts. During the first stage of ripening, the amount of total sterols was about 5.19/100g of oil. It decreased to 0.43/100g in the last stage. Sitosterol and campesterol showed nearly the same profile during the ripening of P. lentiscus fruit which could be linked to the relation between these compounds during their biosynthesis.