Total oil, fatty acid composition and tocopherol content in kernels of several bitter and sweet apricot (Prunus armeniaca Batsch) cultivars from Turkey.

In the study, total oil content, fatty acid composition and tocopherol contents in the kernels of several apricot cultivars were determined for two years. The bitter seed cultivars Alyanak, Karacabey and Paviot, and the sweet seed cultivars Aprikoz, Cataloglu, Cologlu, Hacihaliloglu, Ismailaga, Kabaasi and Sekerpare were used. The seeds of apricot cultivars were obtained from the Malatya Fruit Research Institute in Turkey. It was found that the apricot seed contained a high rate of oil rich in γ-tocopherol and oleic acid, an unsaturated fatty acid. Also, genetic variation was found among the cultivars, however, bitterness or sweetness was not significant. As the average of two years, total oil content of the cultivars ranged from 42.77% (Alyanak) to 54.92% (Ismailaga); oleic acid content from 65.81% (Sekerpare) to 71.40% (Cologlu); linoleic acid content from 21.27% (Paviot) to 25.64% (Kabaasi); palmitic acid content from 5.29% (Karacabey) to 6.66% (Sekerpare); stearic acid content from 1.10% (Kabaasi) to 1.48% (Sekerpare); palmitoleic acid content from 0.58% (Cataloglu) to 0.88% (Alyanak); α-tocopherol content from 3.10 µg/g (Paviot) to 22.45 µg/g (Aprikoz); γ-tocopherol content from 193.00 µg/g (Paviot) to 543.80 µg/g (Karacabey); δ-tocopherol content from 7.80 µg/g (Cataloglu) to 18.53 µg/g (Paviot); and β-tocopherol content from 0.17 µg/g (Cataloglu) to 0.61 µg/g (Aprikoz). Oleic acid was negatively correlated with linoleic acid, palmitic acid, palmitoleic acid and α-tocopherol, which was also positively correlated with γ-tocopherol.