Fatty acid composition
The fatty acid composition of pumpkin seed oil is illustrated in
Table 3. Amongst the current seven fatty acids, four were unsaturated.
The most abundant fatty acids were oleic acid (44.11%),
linoleic acid (34.77%), palmitic acid (15.97%). These values are close
to those obtained by Mitra et al. (2009), Nyam et al. (2009) and
El-Adawy and Taha (2001). It is worth mentioning that the high
amount of linoleic acid makes pumpkin seed oil specifically prone
to oxidation. Yet, this fatty acid may have favourable nutritional
implications and beneficial physiological effects in the prevention
of both coronary heart disease and cancer (Oomah et al., 2000).