Characteristics of pistachio kernel oils from Iranian cultivars

Abstract

Ten pistachio samples from various Iranian cultivars were examined for some botanical features of their nuts and oil characteristics of their kernels. The wt of 100 nuts varied from 78.5 to 136.9 g. The nuts contained 44.1–58.9% kernel. Moisture of the kernels was low, 2.5–4.1%, and the kernels contained 55.2–60.5% oil. Unsaponifiable matter (0.72–0.96%), saponification value (189.0–193.6), refractive index (1.4635–1.4643), and iodine value (98.1–100.5) showed little differences in various samples. Fatty acids detectable by gas chromatographic analysis were: traces of myristic; 9.2–13.4%, palmitic; 0.5–1.1%, stearic; traces of arachidic; 0.5–1.0%; palmitoleic; 56.1–64.0%, oleic; 22.6–31.0%, linoleic; and 0.1–0.4%, linolenic. There were no significant differences due to origin and/or cultivar of the samples. © 1975, American Oil Chemists’ Society. All rights reserved.