Flaxseed fatty acid compositions

Fatty acid composition of flaxseed was affected by cultivar (Froment et al., 1998 Oomah and Mazza, 1997). DeClercq (2005) reported that average ALA content of Canadian flaxseed grown in 2004 was 61.9%. Similar high (56.5-61%) ALA levels were reported by Bozan and Temelli (2002) for Turkish flaxseed. Results were higher than the average values of... 

Gonthier, C., Mustafa, A.F., Ouellet, D.R., Chouinard, P.Y., Berthiaume, R., and Petit, H.V. 2005. Feeding microionized and extruded flaxseed to dairy cows Effects on blood parameters and milk fatty acid composition. J. Dairy Sci. 88, 748-756. 

Kennedy, J.J. and Khorasani, G.R. 1992. Influence of flaxseed feeding on fatty acid composition of cows milk. In Proceedings of the 54th Flaxseed Institute of the United States , pp. 99-105. Fargo, ND. 

Identification Low linolenic flaxseed oil exhibits the following composition profile of fatty acids as determined under Fatty Acid Composition, Appendix VII. 

Fatty acid composition of regular flax oil is different from other commercial oils because of the very high contribution of ALA, usually above 50% (Table 2). Because of the high content of this unique fatty acid, flaxseed and flax oil are often used as food supplements, where enrichment with omega-3 fatty acids is needed. This fatty acid is susceptible to oxidation it oxidizes 20 0 times faster than oleic acid and 2 times faster than linoleic acid (8). This property makes the oil a good material for paint and plastic production where fast oxidation is required. Flax oil contains low amounts of saturated fatty acids (SFA) compared with low linolenic flax oil (Linola), soybean, and sunflower oils however, it is higher than canola oil (Table 2). Canola oil contains the lowest amount of SFA among all commercial oils. 

The contribution of linolenic acid in flaxseed oil showed a wide range and was affected by the growing conditions. Flax varieties grown in Western Canada, average from 495 samples analyzed, contained 5% palmitic acid (16 0), 3% stearic acid (18 0), 17% oleic acid (18 1), 15% linoleic acid (18 2), and 59% linolenic acid (18 3) (11). Although similar varieties were grown in North Dakota, the 11 cultivars assessed showed the following fatty acid composition 5-6% of 16 0, 3-6% of 18 0, 19-29% of 18 1, 14-18% of 18 2, and 45-52% of 18 3 (12). 

Cool temperatures during the 10-25 days after flowering are the main cause for higher amounts of linolenic acid in flax oils (14). For the same reason, flaxseed grown in the Canadian prairies, northern latimde, produce oils with higher levels of polyunsaturated fatty acids and lower contributions of oleic acid and samrated fatty acids. This phenomenon was also observed for other oilseeds such as sunflower, canola, and soybean (7, 13, 14). Similarly, a wide variation in fatty acid composition in Australian flaxseed samples was observed 13-25% of 18 1 and 46-64% of 18 3 (6). 

In 1996, Angers et al. (10) investigated the fatty acid composition of the seed oils of four species of basil, including Ocimum basilicum, Ocimum canum, Ocimum gratissimum, and Ocimum sanctum. Also, four total different varieties of Ocimum basilicum were tested. AU samples were compared with flaxseed oil and had similar fatty acid profiles in regard to a-linolenic, palmitic, and stearic acids. The flaxseed oil had 52% a-linolenic acid, and the basil seed oils had 57.4—62.5% a-linolenic acid (Table 2). The n-6 to n-3 fatty acid ratio of the flaxseed oil was 1 3.2, and... 

Fatty acid composition of total lipids extracted from crushed flaxseeds with hexane or methanol-ammonia-water/hexane (95 10 5, v/w/v) solvent systems did not show any considerable difference (Wanasundara and Shahidi, 1994a) and retained the same proportion of polyunsaturated, monounsaturated and saturated fatty acids. However, when oil-extracted flaxseed meal was further extracted with methanol-ammonia-water/hexane (90 5 5, v/w/v) system the amount of ALA in the residual oil so extracted was almost 50% less than that extracted with hexane (Oomah et ai, 1996). 

Azizal, A.E., Panda, A.K., Quezada, N., Cherian, G., 2013. Nutrient digestibility, egg quality, and fatty acid composition of brown laying hens fed camelina or flaxseed meal. 1. Appl. Poult. Res. 22, 832-841. 

Gonzalez-Esquerra, R. and Leeson, S. 2000. Effects of menhaden oil and flaxseed in broiler diets on sensory quality and lipid composition of poultry meat. British Poultry Sci. 41, 481—488. Gonzalez-Esquerra, R. and Leeson, S. 2001. Alternatives for enrichment of eggs and chicken meat with omega-3 fatty acids. Can. J. Anim. Sci. 81, 295-305. 

The seed of perilla contains 31-51% of oil, which is similar in composition to flaxseed oil, with a higher contribution of PUFA of over 70% (Table 4). The oil is highly unsaturated, with an iodine value of 192-208-g iodine /100-g oil (Table 4). Perilla oil contains over 60% linolenic acid with equal amounts of both linoleic and oleic acids (Table 4). Specific gravity of this oil is higher than flax oil because of a higher contribution of PUFA. Other physical parameters of this oil reflect the composition of its fatty acids. 

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