Fatty acid profile of gamma-irradiated and cooked African oil bean seed (Pentaclethra macrophylla Benth)

The safety and shelf-life of food products can be, respectively, ensured and extended with important food-processing technologies such as irradiation. The joint effect of cooking and 10 kGy gamma irradiation on the fatty acid composition of the oil of Pentaclethra macrophylla Benth was evaluated. Oils from the raw seed, cooked seeds, irradiated seeds (10 kGy), cooked, and irradiated seeds (10 kGy) were extracted and analyzed for their fatty acid content. An omega-6-fatty acid (linoleic acid) was the principal unsaturated fatty acid in the bean seed oil (24.6%). Cooking significantly (P < 0.05) increased Erucic acid by 3.3% and Linolenic acid by 23.0%. Combined treatment significantly (P < 0.05) increased C18:2, C6:0, C20:2, C18:3, C20:3, C24:0, and C22:6 being linoleic, caproic, eicosadienoic, linolenic, eicosatrienoic, ligoceric, and docosahexaenoic acid, respectively, and this increase made the oil sample to have the highest total fatty acid content (154.9%), unsaturated to saturated fatty acid ratio (109.6), and unsaturated fatty acid content (153.9%). 10 kGy irradiation induces the formation of C20:5 (eicosapentaenoic), while cooking induced the formation of C20:4 (arachidic acid), C22:6 (Heneicosanoic acid), and C22:2 (docosadienoic acid). Combined 10 kGy cooking and irradiation increased the susceptibility of the oil of the African oil bean to rancidity.