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Protein, Lipid, Aliphatic and Triterpenic Alcohol Content of Caper Seeds “Capparis spinosa”

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Journal of the American Oil Chemists' Society

Abstract

Capparis spinosa has a large natural distribution over the Mediterranean basin. It is used in traditional medicines, and it is one of the most commonly found aromatics in the Mediterranean kitchen. In this paper, the total storage protein and lipids of Tunisian Capparis spinosa seeds were investigated, and the quantities were ca. 27% and ca. 33%, respectively. In this study also the composition of the aliphatic and triterpenic alcohols of C. spinosa was characterized for the first time. Aliphatic alcohol contents were ca. 45 mg kg−1 of total extracted lipids. Three compounds were identified, hexadecanol, octadecanol and tetracosanol, of which octadecanol was the major compound (ca. 28 mg kg−1). Triterpenic alcohol content was 396.82 mg kg−1. Citrostadienol was the major compound (ca. 170 mg kg−1). β-Amyrin, gramisterol, cycloartanol and 2,4 methylcycloartenol were also detected and identified.

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Acknowledgments

We are very grateful to the INRGREF for help with samples collection.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratoire de Biochimie, Département de Biologie, Faculté des Sciences de Tunis, Université Tunis El-Manar, 2092, Tunis, Tunisia

    Nizar Tlili, Taissir El Guizani, Nizar Nasri & Saida Triki

  2. Unité de Recherche Gestion et Valorisation des Ressources Forestières, INRGREF, BP 10, 2080, Ariana, Tunisia

    Nizar Tlili & Abdelhamid Khaldi

Authors
  1. Nizar Tlili
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  2. Taissir El Guizani
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  3. Nizar Nasri
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  4. Abdelhamid Khaldi
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  5. Saida Triki
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Correspondence to Nizar Tlili.

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Tlili, N., El Guizani, T., Nasri, N. et al. Protein, Lipid, Aliphatic and Triterpenic Alcohol Content of Caper Seeds “Capparis spinosa”. J Am Oil Chem Soc 88, 265–270 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11746-010-1662-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11746-010-1662-2

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