engleski

Inorganic pattern of pumpkin seed oil - comparison Austria and Croatia

Oils extracted from plants have been used since ancient time for culinary purposes in many cultures. One reason for application of olive or pumpkin seed oil in cooking is their flavor. Pumpkin seed oil (Kuerbiskernoel) is made by pressing the roasted seeds of special type of pumpkins, the "Styrian Oil Pumpkin" (lat. Cucurbita pepo var. styriaca, also known as var. oleifera). It is not only culinary specialty of Styria, Austria, but also widely used and produced in the northwest Croatia. Pumpkin seed oil is viscous and its color ranges from dark green to dark brown. Its taste depends on the color, i.e. brown oil bitter while green pumpkin seed oil tastes nutty. Pumpkin seed oil is very healthy due to its richness in polyunsaturated acids. Trace elemental characterization, i.e. their inorganic pattern, is the basis for further nutritional and food technological investigations such as adulteration detection. Furthermore the trace elemental composition of the oil depends on the geographical origin. In the presented study pumpkin seed oils from Croatia were analyzed for their trace elemental content. The samples underwent an acidic microwave assisted digestion step prior to analysis by ICP - AES. The concentration of the following minor and trace elements were determined: Ca, Fe, K, Mg, Na, and Zn as well as Al, Cd, Cu, Co, Cr, Ni, Mn, Mo, Pb, and V. The results found for Croatian oils were compared with data for Austrian pumpkin seed oils obtained previously. Statistically significant differences in the inorganic pattern of the oils were found for the minor as well as for the trace elements. For example Croatian pumpkin seed oils contain 5 - 10 times more C, but five times less Na and two times less Mg. Regarding the trace elements higher amounts of Cd, Cr, and Cu, but less Al and Ni were found in Austrian pumpkin seed oils. Pb could not be detected in pumpkin seed oils from both countries. Based on these findings a geographical characterization of pumpkin seed oils using their inorganic pattern might be possible.

trace elements; metals; pumpkin oils; inductively coupled plasma – optical emission spectrometry

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