Characterization of fig achenes' oil of Ficus carica grown in Tunisia.

This work investigated the composition of the oil extract from achenes of "Kholi" variety of Ficus carica, grown in Tunisia. Fatty acid and sterol compositions were analyzed by gas chromatography (GC) coupled to flame ionization detector (FID). Furthermore, the antioxidant capacity in fig achenes' oil was assessed by employing two different in vitro assays such as DPPH, ABTS(+) radical scavenging capacities. Our results indicated that the fig achenes' oil is a rich source of bioactive molecules. The soxhlet n-hexane extraction of these achenes produced a total oil yield of 16.24%. The predominant fatty acid was linolenic acid. Concerning phytosterols, the total amount reached 1061.45 mg/100 g with a predominance of Δ(5,23)-stigmastadienol (73.78%). Regarding antioxidant activities, the half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) was 215.86 μg/ml and Trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity (TEAC) was 95.25 mM. These data indicate that fig achenes oil of F. carica could be potentially useful in food and pharmaceutical applications.