Fatty Acid Composition of Dried Fruits of Sclerocarya birrea, Diospyros blancoi and Landolphia kirkii

Athanasia O Matemu; Durotoye Adeyemi; Hlengilizwe Nyoni; Ladislaus Mdee; Papiso Tshabalala; Bhekie Mamba; Titus A M Msagati

doi:10.3390/ijerph14111401

Fatty Acid Composition of Dried Fruits of Sclerocarya birrea, Diospyros blancoi and Landolphia kirkii

Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2017 Nov 17;14(11):1401. doi: 10.3390/ijerph14111401.

Authors

Athanasia O Matemu^{1

2}, Durotoye Adeyemi³, Hlengilizwe Nyoni⁴, Ladislaus Mdee⁵, Papiso Tshabalala⁶, Bhekie Mamba⁷, Titus A M Msagati⁸

Affiliations

¹ Nanotechnology and Water Sustainability, College of Science Engineering and Technology, University of South Africa, Johannesburg 1710, South Africa. athanasia.matemu@nm-aist.ac.tz.
² Department of Food and Nutritional Sciences, School of Life Sciences and Bioengineering, Nelson Mandela African Institute of Science and Technology, P.O. Box 447 Arusha, Tanzania. athanasia.matemu@nm-aist.ac.tz.
³ Nanotechnology and Water Sustainability, College of Science Engineering and Technology, University of South Africa, Johannesburg 1710, South Africa. dadeyemi@gmail.com.
⁴ Nanotechnology and Water Sustainability, College of Science Engineering and Technology, University of South Africa, Johannesburg 1710, South Africa. nyonih@unisa.ac.za.
⁵ School of Medicine, University of Limpopo C/O R71 Tzaneen Road and University Street Mankweng Township, Polokwane University of Limpopo Old Admin Block, Ground Floor Sovenga, Limpopo 0727, South Africa. Ladislaus.Mdee@ul.ac.za.
⁶ Consumer Goods Council of South Africa, Johannesburg 1710, South Africa. papisot@cgcsa.ac.za.
⁷ Nanotechnology and Water Sustainability, College of Science Engineering and Technology, University of South Africa, Johannesburg 1710, South Africa. Mambabb@unisa.ac.za.
⁸ Nanotechnology and Water Sustainability, College of Science Engineering and Technology, University of South Africa, Johannesburg 1710, South Africa. msagatam@unisa.ac.za.

Abstract

Wild fruits are commonly consumed in the rural communities of South Africa. The information on their nutritionally important fatty acids is, however, limited. Three wild fruit species, Diospyros blancoi, Landolphia kirkii and Sclerocarya birrea from Limpopo Province were selected for evaluation of fatty acid content. Fatty acids composition of dried fruits of Diospyros blancoi (Db), Landolphia kirkii (Lk) and ripe and/or overripe Sclerocarya birrea (Sb) were evaluated by a gas chromatography-time of flight-mass spectrometer (GC-TOF-MS). Hexadecanoic acid (C16:0) was found in highest abundance in L. kirkii (57.73-73.55%), followed by S. birrea (55.92-71.31%) and D. blancoi (46.31-62.05%), respectively. Octadecanoic acid (C18:0) was of second highest abundance, with 24.71-100% in D. blancoi, L. kirkii (31.03-41.60%) and S. birrea (9.11-17.0%). The 9-octadecenoic acid (C18:1n-9) was the major unsaturated fatty acid in both S. birrea (5.33-18.82%), D. blancoi (8.22-8.92%), and L. kirkii (3.84-8.63%). The 9,-12-octadecadienoic acid (C18:2n-6) was the major unsaturated fatty acid in D. blancoi (22.34%). The 9,-12,-15-octadecatrienoic acid (C18:3n-3) was found in L. kirkii (3.51%) and S. birrea (2.79%). From the results, saturated fatty acids were the most dominant, whereas mono- and poly-unsaturated fatty acids were the minor constituents. Therefore, presence of nutritionally important essential fatty acids from S. birrea, D. blancoi and L. kirkii has been shown.

Keywords: Diospyros blancoi; GC-TOF-MS; Landolphia kirkii; Sclerocarya birrea; fatty acids.

MeSH terms

Anacardiaceae / chemistry*
Apocynaceae / chemistry*
Diospyros / chemistry*
Fatty Acids / chemistry*
Fruit / chemistry*
Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry
South Africa

Substances

Fatty Acids