Chemical characteristics of oils from naked and husk seeds of Cucurbita pepo L.
Pumpkin seed oils from naked and husk pumpkin seeds, produced by an industrial process and by laboratory extraction, were evaluated for fatty acid composition, tocopherol, sterol and squalene content. The major fatty acids in the oils from both varieties were oleic, linoleic and palmitic acid, followed by stearic acid. The ratios of monounsaturated to polyunsaturated fatty acids for husk and naked seed oils were about 0.60 and 0.75, respectively. Analysis of tocopherols in industrially pressed and laboratory-extracted oils showed that husk seed oils had higher amounts of total tocopherols than naked seed oils. Oils extracted in the laboratory had higher amounts of tocopherols than industrial oils. Pumpkin seed oil, in general, had a high level of squalene, which was higher in husk seed oils than in naked seed oils and in extracted than in pressed oils. The total amount of sterols was higher in husk than in naked seed oils and in extracted oil samples. The main sterols were D7-sterols and their content was similar in all samples, but the content of D5-sterols was higher in oil samples of husk pumpkin seed and in extracted than in pressed oils.