Vegetable oil derived from seed of Japanese apricot and preparation thereof

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a vegetable oil from a seed of a Japanese apricot. SOLUTION: A seed 1 of an unripe or pickled Japanese apricot is passed through a gap between two rollers 2 while rotating the rollers to break the seed and separated into a skin and a stone (nucleus). The skin and the stone are immersed in a salt water having a salt concn. of 15 to 25% or a Japanese apricot vinegar, and the floated stone is taken out and then dried, followed by extraction of a vegetable oil from the stone. The above method may be used in combination with pressing. About 6kg of a vegetable oil is obtained from 100kg of the seed of the Japanese apricot. One example of a fatty acid composition comprises 57.9% oleic acid, 30.4% linoleic acid, 8.1'% palmitic acid, 1.7% stearic acid, 1.1 % palmitoleic acid, 0.3% arachidonic acid, 0.2% 18C fatty acid, 0.1 % 20C fatty acid, 0.1 % 22C fatty acid, and 0.1 % others.