Currant seed

During the processing of currants, the seeds are separated from the pulp of the berries and are discarded as waste. The seeds contain from 13 to 30% fat which could be recovered in the same fashion as that of grapes which are often grown in the same regions. 

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Wu, D., Meydani, M., Leka, L.S., Nightingale, Z., Handelman, G.J., Blumberg, J.B., and Meydani, S.N. 1999. Effect of dietary supplementation with black currant seed oil on the immune response of healthy elderly subjects. Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 70, 536-543. 

Tahvonen, R.L., U.S. Schwab, K.M. Linderborg, H.M. Mykkanen, and H.P. Kallio. 2005. Black currant seed oil and fish oil supplements differ in their effects on fatty acid profiles of plasma lipids, and concentrations of serum total and lipoprotein lipids, plasma glucose and insulin. /. Nutr. Biochem. 16(6) 353-359. 

Synonyms Black currant Black currant buds Black currant seeds Currant buds, black, absolute Ribes nigrum Ribes nigrum buds... 

Black currant seeds. See Black currant (Ribes nigrum)... 

Jenning could show an increased loading of retinol into the NLC formulations compared to SLN. NLC formulations are currently intensively studied particularly for dermal drug delivery for, e.g., retinol, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory and antifungal drugs as well as for cosmetic formulations. Some cosmetic formulations based on NLC with camauba wax and black currant seed oil as solid and liquid lipid components, respectively, have already reached the market (NanoLipid Restore CLR and QIO CLR, Dr. Rimpler GmbH). 

Ribes rubrum are native to northeastern Europe as far as the Arctic Sea, through northern Asia and eastern Manchuria. Part of the crop is eaten as fresh fruit, the rest is used commercially in the preparation of jelly, preserves, syrups and currant wine (Bianchini and Corbetta, 1976). Red currant seed oil contains a relatively high level of a-linolenic acid which would make it a good drying oil (Table 7.5). Testing of the oil is needed to determine its suitability for human consumption. 

Some novel seed oils contain a relatively high proportion of 18 4n-3, such as oils from blackcurrant seeds, redcurrant seeds, alpine currant seeds, and Echium species (Table 7). As a precursor of 20 4n-3 (see Figure 1), 18 4n-3 is regarded as a good source of long-chain n-3 PUFA and appears to possess a higher biological activity than ALA (Petrick et al., 2000). 

Crozier, GL, Fleith, M, Traitler, H and Finot, PA (1989) Black currant seed oil feeding and fatty acids in liver lipid classes of guinea pigs. Lipids, 24, 460-466. 

Diboune, M, Ferard, G, Ingenhleek, Y, Tulasne, PA, Calon, B, Hasselmann, M, Saude, P, Spiehnann, D and Metais, P (1992) Composition of phosphohpid fatty acids in red blood cell membranes of patients in intensive care units effects of different intakes of soybean oil, medium-chain triglycerides, and black-currant seed oil. J. Parenter. Enter. Nutr., 16, 136-141. 

R. alpinum,R. montigenum,R. nigrum, R. rubrum,R. spicatum,R. uva-crispa) contain stearidonic acid at levels between 2% and 6% (Wolf et al., 1983 Traitler etal., 1984,1988 Olsson etai, 1990 Ucciani etal., 1995 Johansson et al., 1997). Ucciani et al. (1995) reported stearidonic acid in Grossularia bureiens seed oil (6%). The oil contents of these currant seeds vary from 15% to 30%. 

Atopic eczema is related to a decreased content of PUFA beyond the A -desaturase stage. Oral administration of COj-extracted alpine currant seed oil. 

Johansson, A, Isolauri, E, Sakninen, S, Laakso, P, Tuijanmaa, K, Katajisto, J and KaUio, H (1999) Alpine currant seed oil as a source of polyunsaturated fatty acids in the treatment of atopic eczema. In Functional Foods — A New Challenge for the Food Chemists (R Lasztity, W Pfannhauser, L Simon-Sarkadi and S Tomoskdzi, eds). Publishing company of TUB (Technical University of Budapest), Budapest, pp.530-536. 

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