Introduction

Consumer resistance to synthetic additives is increasing with a growing interest in natural product use for human food and animal feed industries [1]. Garcinia fruits have been used in Ayurveda to medicate various pathophysiological disorders. Garcinia species belong to the family Clusiaceae and are known as a rich source of metabolites having therapeutic properties [2–4]. Throughout the years, Garcinia trees have considerable value as sources of food medicines, pigments, gums, waxes, resins, fuel and lumber [5]. The fruits have been used for centuries in Asian countries, for culinary purposes. It is used as a condiment in places of common souring agents like tamarind or lemon to give flavor, taste, and it also improves the shelf life of the product [6, 7].

The syrup formulated from G. indica fruits locally known as ‘Kokum’ has a beneficial effect on skin damage and allergies from the tropical climate [8]. Soup from kokum fruits known as ‘birindi saar’ and ‘kokum kadi’ are digestive and relieve gastric problems [9]. Kokum juice is a favorite cold drink during summer months. G. gummi-gutta fruits are acidic in taste and used as a substitute for polishing of gold and silver, as a replacement for acetic or formic acid and in coagulating rubber latex [7]. Flavonoids from G. gummi-gutta were found to exert hypolipidemic activity in vivo [10]. Phenolic compounds isolated from G. xanthochymus fruits, bark and leaves exhibited antioxidant, anticancer and anti-inflammatory activities [7]. Fermented beverages from G. xanthochymus fruits were well accepted and have the right nutritional attributes [11].

Currently, only a small number of Garcinia species are cultivated for food and commerce. G. gummi-gutta, G. indica and G. xanthochymus are the most widely cultivated species in India [12]. G. gummi-gutta is largely distributed in Southeast Asia, India, West and Central Africa [13]. G. indica is mainly found in India [14] while G. xanthochymus is endemic to India, Malaysia, Myanmar and Thailand [15]. G. gummi-gutta and G. indica are the rich sources of (-) hydroxycitric acid (HCA) and are beneficial in obesity-related complications such as inflammation, oxidative stress, and insulin resistance [16]. In India, the dried seeds of Garcinia often yield a protein and fat-rich butter, known as ‘uppage tuppa’. Garcinia indica fat (kokum butter) is commercially available and is mainly used as an edible fat and also as substitute for cocoa butter [4, 17]. Refined and deodorized fat is white and compares favorably with hydrogenated fats. Kokum (G. indica) fat with cocoa butter finds application in chocolates and confectionery [18–20]. The present study dwells on the comparison of the fatty acid composition of fruit pericarp (pulp) and seeds from G. gummi-gutta, G. indica and G. xanthochymus fruits.

The nutritional quality and health benefits of edible oil are ideally determined by the presence of more unsaturated fatty acids (e.g. oleic acid, α-linolenic acid) and lower level of saturated fatty acid (e.g. palmitic acid, stearic acid). The knowledge about the biochemical composition of Garcinia fruits cultivated in Indian is limited. Very few studies have been carried out to understand the difference between these fruits in detail on the physical and chemical properties of oils. The aim of the study is to explore the variability in nutritional components of Garcinia fruits with special reference to fatty acids. Thus, it is necessary, and useful, to investigate how these fruits differ from each other based on their nutritional attributes and health benefits.

Materials and Methods

Fruit Materials

G. gummi-gutta and G. xanthochymus fresh fruits were procured from three cultivars of Kodagu district, Karnataka (India). G. indica fresh fruits were collected from Dandeli forest of Uttar Kannada district, Karnataka (India). The fruits were collected for three consecutive seasons of 2012, 2013 and 2014 to account for year to year variability in composition. It was expected to generate a clear understanding about the variability in biochemical composition as these varieties are widely distributed in geographic location.

Chemicals Used

The standard supelco 37 component FAME mix was purchased from Sigma-Aldrich Company Ltd. (Bangalore, India). Chromatography grade n-hexane was obtained from Merck Chemicals, Mumbai. Standard solutions of the amino acids, in addition to the eluting and derivatization agents, were all provided in an inclusive amino acid analysis kit (EZFaast GC-FID) purchased from Phenomenex (Torrance, CA, USA). All other chemicals, which were purchased from Merck Chemicals, Mumbai (India), were of analytical grade unless otherwise specified.

Determination of Moisture Content

Moisture content (MC) of the fruit part was determined gravimetrically, according to the method of the American Oil Chemist’s Society [21, 22]. Fresh fruit sample was weighed before and after drying in an air circulating oven (Serwell Instruments Incorporation, Bangalore, India). Finely crushed 100 g of the sample was weighed into a clean and dried glass Petri plate (W 1) and dried in the oven at 105 °C until a constant weight was achieved (W 2).

$${\text{MC }}\left( \% \right) = \left( {W_{ 1} {-}W_{ 2} /W_{ 1} } \right) \times 100$$

Determination of Oil Content

Seeds and pericarp were subjected to freeze-drying (LT5S, Lyophilization Systems, Incorporation, USA) at a temperature of −90 °C. The dried sample was ground into a powder, and a known quantity was soaked in a chloroform:methanol (2:1) solvent for 24 h with continuous agitation. The clear colored solution was filtered through Whatman No. 1 filter paper. The residue was repeatedly dissolved in the solvent until decolorization had occurred. The combined extract was dried by using nitrogen gas flow.

$${\text{Oil content }}\left( \% \right) = \left( {{\text{weight of solvent extract}}/{\text{weight of the dried sample}}} \right) \times 100$$

The oil sample of the fruit thus obtained was further used for fatty acid profiling and lipid classification.

Determination of Wax Content

The wax analysis was carried out using a wax precipitation procedure [23] with some modifications. Oil extracted was dissolved in n-hexane (1:5 w/w) and stirred for 30 min. Acetone (acetone/n-hexane ratio 3:1) was added to the mixture and cooled down to −20 °C for 24 h. The liquid phase present in the oil was separated using a micropipette. The solid phase was re-dissolved in n-hexane to remove non-dissolving materials. After solvent removal, the wax content was analyzed gravimetrically.

Determination of Protein Content

Protein was determined by the Kjeldahl method [24] with minor modifications. A dried powder (0.5 g) sample was digested in 20 mL of sulfuric acid at 380 °C using 1 g of catalyst mixture [potassium sulfate:copper sulfate:selenium dioxide (5:2:1)]. Digested sample was distilled using 40 % NaOH in Kjeldahl distillation equipment (Vapodest 30S, Gerhardt, Germany). Ammonia absorbed in excess of 2 % boric acid solution was titrated with 0.014 N HCl, to estimate total nitrogen content. Protein content was evaluated by using the factor 6.25 [25].

$${\text{Protein content }}\left( \% \right) = \left[ {\left( {V_{\text{S}} - V_{\text{B}} } \right) \times 0.0 1 4\times 1 4.0 1/W \times 10} \right] \times 6. 2 5$$

Here, V S = volume (mL) of standardized acid used to titrate a test; V B = volume (mL) of standardized acid used to titrate reagent blank; W = weight (g) of test portion or standard.

Determination of Ash Content

The defatted dried powder was placed in a clean and preheated crucible (W1) and heated in a muffle furnace for about 6–8 h at 550 °C until a constant weight of greyish white ash (W 2) was obtained [26]. Desiccator was used for cooling the crucible while weighing and monitoring the weight.

$${\text{Ash content }}\left( \% \right) = \left( {W_{ 2} /W_{ 1} } \right) \times 100$$

Total Amino Acid Composition Analysis by Gas Chromatography (GC)

Amino acids were analyzed using a commercial EZ:faast™ amino acid analysis kit (Phenomenex, Torrance, CA, USA). Lyophilized 100 mg Garcinia powder (in flame seal tube) was hydrolyzed (liquid phase hydrolysis) at 110 °C for 22 h in 100 µL 6 N HCl containing 4 % thioglycolic acid. The hydrolyzed mixture (100 µL) further derivatized at pH 1.5–5.0 as described in the manual. Amino acid analysis was carried out by GC system (Shimadzu GC 2014; M/s Shimadzu, Kyoto, Japan) fitted with a flame ionization detector (FID) for identifying individual amino acids. Amino acid esters were dissolved in chloroform and analyzed on a Column ZB-AAA-10 m (10 m × 0.25 mm × 0.25 µm; Phenomenex, Torrance, CA, USA) with a split ratio of 1:10. The temperatures of the injector, column and detector were set at 300 °C, 110–320 °C at a gradient rate of 35 °C/min, and 320 °C, respectively. The amino acids were identified by comparing them with authentic standards (Fig. 1).

Fig. 1
figure 1

Representative chromatograms showing amino acids of Garcinia seed determined by GC: a G. gummi-gutta, b G. indica, and c G. xanthochymus

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Column Chromatography Fractionation of the Lipid Classes

The lipid classes of extracted Garcinia oils were determined by column chromatography [27, 28]. Briefly, a Borosil glass column (30 cm × 20 mm ID) was packed with activated silica gel (100–200 mesh) by applying a slurry of the adsorbent in chloroform (1:5, w/v). Garcinia oil was mixed with 20 mL of chloroform and applied to the column, which was eluted sequentially with 20 washes of chloroform (for neutral lipids), with acetone (for glycolipids), and with methanol (for phospholipids). The solvent was evaporated by rotary evaporation, and the lipid percentage of each fraction was determined gravimetrically. The lipids were dissolved separately in their respective solvents and stored at −20 °C until required for fatty acid profiling.

Preparation of Fatty Acid Methyl Esters (FAME)

The extracted oil was used for complete fatty acid profiling of Garcinia fruits. One milliliter extract of each sample was used to obtain FAME [29, 30]. The gas chromatography (GC) method was followed for fatty acid profiling [31]. The experiments were conducted in triplicates. The lipids were transmethylated using 0.2 mL methanolic sodium hydroxide (2 M) followed by 2 M methanolic hydrochloric acid (0.2 mL) to obtain FAME residues.

Fatty Acid Profiling

FAME residues were dissolved in hexane and precaution was taken to maintain concentrations of FAME. The analysis was carried out by GC (Shimadzu GC 2014, Japan). FAME (1 µl) were analyzed using Omegawax™ 320 fused silica capillary column (30 m × 0.32 mm ID × 0.25 μm film thickness) with nitrogen as a carrier gas. The conditions used for GC analysis were; injection temperature of 250 °C, flame ionization detector (FID) temperature of 260 °C and column temperature of 240 °C. The peaks were identified by comparing the retention time with authentic standards (Fig. 2). The unknown FAME peak areas were computed, and relative percentage of individual fatty acid was calculated. The data is presented as the mean of three analyses.

Fig. 2
figure 2

Representative chromatograms showing FAME of Garcinia pericarp determined by GC: a G. gummi-gutta, b G. indica, and c G. xanthochymus

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Gas Chromatography–Mass Spectrometry (GC–MS) Analyses of FAME

FAME were analyzed by GC–MS (PerkinElmer, Turbomass Gold, Mass spectrometer) equipped with FID. The separation was carried out using a cross bond polyethylene glycol elite-wax column (PerkinElmer, 30 m, 0.32 mm ID and 0.25 µm film thickness). The injector port and detector temperatures were set up 250 and 260 °C, respectively. Helium gas was used as the carrier gas at a flow rate of 1 mL/min, and the split ratio was 20:1. Initially, the column temperature was maintained at 50 °C for 2 min, which was gradually increased to 240 °C at the rate of 5 °C/min. The column temperature was maintained at 240 °C for 10 min. The constituent identity of the FAME was confirmed by comparing their mass spectral fragmentation pattern with inbuilt library provided along with the instrument and also with the NIST library.

Analysis of the Sample and Residues by Scanning Electron Micrograph (SEM)

Garcinia powder before and after solvent extraction was subjected to SEM [32, 33]. Dry powder passed through 120-micron metal sieve to obtain uniform residues. The shape and surface characters of sample residues were recorded on SEM (LEO 435 VP, LEO Electron Microscopy Ltd., Cambridge, UK).

Determination of Fatty Acid Desaturation Ratios

Oleic desaturation ratio (ODR) and linoleic desaturation ratio (LDR) were calculated. ODR determine the efficiency of the desaturation from oleic acid to linoleic acid and LDR determine the efficiency of the desaturation from linoleic acid to α-linolenic acid. Within the desaturation pathway, ODR and LDR were calculated as follows:

$${\text{ODR }} = \frac{{\% {\text{C18}}: 2 { } + \, \% {\text{C18}}: 3}}{{\% {\text{C18}}: 1 { } + \, \% {\text{C18}}: 2 { } + \, \% {\text{C18}}: 3}}$$
$${\text{LDR }} = \frac{{\% {\text{C18}}: 3}}{{\% {\text{C18}}: 2 { } + \, \% {\text{C18}}: 3}}$$

Statistical Analysis

All estimations were carried out in triplicate making three determinations (n = 3). Statistical analysis was carried out to calculate mean ± standard deviation (SD) and summarized the characteristics of the subjects. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed to determine the significance of the result using Tukey–Kramer comparison test and Dunnett’s test. Minitab 17 (Minitab Ltd., UK) was used for correlation analysis. A difference of p < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.

Results and Discussion

Fruit Composition

The pericarp/seed ratio was found to be high in G. gummi-gutta fruits (Table 1). As expected, the fresh seeds had significantly (p < 0.05) lower moisture content (35.45–42.58 %) than those of fresh pericarps (81.41–87.21 %). Moisture content of seeds analyzed was more than those reported by Naveen and Krishnakumar for the same fruits [34]. Ash content was found to be significantly high (p < 0.05) in G. indica fruits. The ash content of seeds ranged between 1.04 and 2.62 g/100 g was greater than the values determined for seeds such as coconut but less than those of castor and groundnut oil seeds [35]. Previous studies showed that the free fatty acid concentration was more in G. xanthochymus seed [34]. Similar results were observed in the present study. Garcinia seed contains a considerable amount of protein, and it appears to be the nutritious part of the fruit. The protein content, G. gummi-gutta and G. indica seeds (7.72 and 10.79 %, respectively) was greater than the value determined for G. mangostana (6.57 %) by Ajayi et al. [36]. G. indica seeds had significantly (p < 0.05) more protein content than other samples.

Table 1 Proximate composition of Garcinia fruits (g/100 g sample)
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G. indica pericarp that is used by natives for different culinary and therapeutic purposes contains 18–19 % dry matter. G. gummi-gutta pericarp had a high amount of oil compared to G. indica and G. xanthochymus pericarp. Similar results were reported by Mazi et al. [37] in Garcinia kola. Since the pericarp was sticky to handle, wax content was estimated which indicated that the pericarp contains 0.2–1.1 % of wax. The wax content was not determined in Garcinia seeds.

Total Amino Acid Profile of Fruits

The aim of this study was to contribute to the knowledge about the total amino acids of Garcinia fruits. This is with a view to the information obtained from this analysis being used to understand and explain its impact on human health. To the best of our knowledge this is the first report and explain the amino acid composition of these fruits (Table 2). There was a remarkably predominance of hydrophobic amino acids such as alanine, leucine, proline and phenylalanine. Several authors have reported that these amino acids are major components of antioxidant peptides and exhibit good antioxidant activity [38, 39]. Leucine and phenylalanine, which are essential amino acids, were found significantly (p < 0.05) high in the pericarp of G. gummi-gutta and G. indica when compared to the seed. Leucine showed significantly (p < 0.01) strong positive correlation with phenylalanine (data not shown). Sulfur-containing amino acids like methionine were a minority in some samples while asparagine and tryptophan were not detected. Overall, we conclude that these varieties of Garcinia are a good source of hydrophobic amino acids and may exhibit antioxidant properties.

Table 2 Total amino acid composition (g/100 g protein) of Garcinia fruits
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SEM Analysis of Garcinia

In order to explain the efficiency of solvent (chloroform:methanol) extraction of fatty acids, the microstructures of residue before and after solvent extraction were examined by SEM. The microstructures of extracted material changed significantly with large pores and aggregated into a larger mass compared with that of material before solvent extraction, which had more compact structure (Fig. 3). It indicated that the extraction changed the inner structure of the materials, due to the higher extraction efficiency of fatty acids.

Fig. 3
figure 3

Scanning electron micrographs of Garcinia powder, a raw pericarp, b pericarp residues obtained after solvent extraction, c raw seed, and d seed residues obtained after solvent extraction

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Fatty Acid Profile of Fruits

The present study demonstrates that G. gummi-gutta, G. indica and G. xanthochymus seeds are good sources of fatty acids. Further characterization of individual fatty acids was carried out by GC (Fig. 2) and GC–MS analysis. Comprehensive fatty acids (37 fatty acids) were screened from three commercially important Garcinia varieties (Table 3). Earlier Daniel et al. [40] had indicated that seed fatty acid percentage increased with seed maturation in G. indica. We observed that oleic acid (OA) was one of the primary fatty acids found in all samples of Garcinia. Ajayi et al. [36] also reported that oleic acid was the most prevalent fatty acid in G. mangostana seed oil. The presence of OA in the diet is good for health. It is reported that oleic acid is effective in lowering low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol level [41]. The relative percentage of OA was significantly higher (p < 0.05) in seeds than pericarp. After OA, the other major fatty acid identified was stearic acid (SA) however, it was found to be in a minor quantity in G. xanthochymus. The earlier report also indicates that the SA and OA are the primary fatty acids present in G. indica seed [40, 42, 43]. Such combinations lead to the solidification of the fats with a rough surface [18]. Whereas palmitic acid (PA) content was found to be high in G. xanthochymus fruits compared to the other Garcinia fruits.

Table 3 Fatty acid composition (relative %) of Garcinia oil
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The fatty acid compositions of palm oil and G. xanthochymus seed oil were found to be similar [44]. Among the main edible oils of India, palm oil holds the highest market share of up to 38 % [45]; hence, G. xanthochymus seed oil can be the next option for palm oil. In Garcinia, it has been observed that many fatty acids were present in very less quantity (<0.1 %) and most of the fatty acids vary from species to species for their presence. The common fatty acids observed were C10:0 (capric acid), C11:0 (undecanoic acid), C12:0 (lauric acid), C16:0 (PA), C18:0 (SA), C18:1n9c (OA) and C18:2n6t (linolelaidic acid). Studies on Garcinia kola also revealed that oleic, linoleic and palmitic acid were the dominant fatty acids in the seed, while, PA and linoleic acid (LA, C18:2n6c) were predominant in the hull [46]. Among all fatty acids C13:0 (tridecanoic acid), C18:3n6 (γ-linolenic acid) and C22:0 (behenic acid) were either not determined or were present in very less quantity (<0.1 %) in all fruits.

On screening of fat type, we observed omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids in Garcinia fruits. The mammalian body cannot synthesize essential fatty acids, and these fatty acids are obtained from food sources [47]. Earlier, there were reports that the ratio of omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids in human’s diet has to be 1:1 because, mammalian cells cannot convert omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids [48]. Our findings suggest that G. xanthochymus fruits are close to this ratio while other fruits contained significantly high (p < 0.05) amount of omega-6 fatty acids (Table 4). Eicosapentaenoic acid (C20:5n3) is a n-3 long chain fatty acid detected in G. xanthochymus seed. n-3 long chain fatty acids have been recommended for the prevention of cardiovascular disease [49]. α-Linolenic acid (ALA, C18:3n3) was another predominant omega-3 fatty acid mainly, identified in G. xanthochymus fruit pericarp and seed. ALA lowers the risk of fatal ischemic heart disease and myocardial infarction. A lower amount of γ-linolenic acid (GLA, C18:3n6) was present in seeds of G. gummi-gutta and G. indica, which has selective antitumor properties with negligible systemic toxicity [50]. Garcinia gummi-gutta and G. indica pericarp intake may protect against the development of cancer as these are a good source of LA. Linoleic acid has been reported to be an anticancer molecule [51].

Table 4 Comparison of saturated and unsaturated fatty acids composition of Garcinia fruits
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The comparative study of saturated and unsaturated fatty acid indicates that the percentage of total unsaturated fatty acids was significantly high (p < 0.05) in all fruits (Table 4). Our findings suggest that Garcinia fruits are rich in monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA). It has been reported that MUFA rich diet reduces cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk by favorably modulating blood lipids [52]. MUFA also contributes to reducing coronary heart disease (CHD) in both healthy adults and those with established chronic disease. Comparatively polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) were found to be significantly high (p < 0.05) in pericarp than the seeds.

Lipid Classes and Their Fatty Acid Composition

Garcinia oil was further studied for lipid sub-classes, i.e. neutral lipids, glycolipids and phospholipids with fatty acid composition. Lipid sub-classes of Garcinia oil are summarized in Table 5. Neutral lipids were predominant (37.6–95.8 %) in most of the samples followed by glycolipids (3.2–55.9 %) and phospholipids (1.0–6.8 %). Lipid subclasses pattern of G. indica seed oils agreed well with the literature [40, 53]. The neutral lipids of Garcinia oils showed MUFA oleic (32.9–63.74 %) as the major fatty acid followed by saturated stearic (1.58–67.06 %), palmitic (0.02–44.21 %) and omega-6 (0.01–14.85 %), omega-3 (0.08–5.41 %) fatty acids (Table 6). The fatty acid composition of neutral lipids agreed well with the Garcinia oil fatty acid composition provided in Table 3. The results concurred with the findings of Thippeswamy and Raina [53] who have reported similar observations. The glycolipids of Garcinia oils showed oleic (38.21–62.1 %), stearic (14.92–55.25 %), palmitic (2.32–45.44 %), omega-6 (0.81–19.71 %) and omega-3 (0.14–17.64 %) fatty acids. The phospholipids of Garcinia oil showed oleic (43–71.54 %) as predominant fatty acid against palmitic (3.57-33.01 %), stearic (1.88-48.85 %), omega-6 (4.02–32.5 %) and omega-3 (2.23–14.38 %) fatty acids. Palmitic was found to be the major fractions (p < 0.05) of G. xanthochymus seed glycolipids (45.44 %), stearic in G. indica seed neutral lipids (67.06 %) and oleic acid in G. xanthochymus seed phospholipids (71.54 %). These results agreed well with the Garcinia oil fatty acid composition of neutral lipids and glycolipids.

Table 5 Lipid composition (relative %) of the Garcinia oil
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Table 6 Fatty acid composition (relative %) of neutral, glyco and phospho-lipid fractions of Garcinia fruit
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Desaturation Ratios of Unsaturated Fatty Acids and Association of Individual Fatty Acids

Evaluation of potential of cultivars by comparing individual fatty acid values with beneficial health attributes is difficult. The biosynthetic pathway of fatty acids is complex and highly regulated by a desaturation pathway [54]. For this reason, the oleic desaturation ratio (ODR) and the linoleic desaturation ratio (LDR) were additionally analyzed. ODR and LDR values were calculated to estimate the efficiency of the fatty acid desaturation pathway (Table 7). Among the varieties studied, highest LDR values were found in G. xanthochymus. LDR value was zero in the pericarp of G. gummi-gutta and G. indica indicating no α-linolenic acid formation. The high LDR values in seed samples imply that the biosynthetic pathway is efficient in the conversion of linoleic acid to α-linolenic acid. Relatively low ODR values in seeds indicating less conversion of oleic acid to linoleic acid. Based on ODR and LDR values, G. xanthochymus could be a potential target cultivar to develop a more suitable and health beneficial Garcinia variety with enhanced α-linolenic acid content.

Table 7 Range of variation in Garcinia oil desaturation ratios
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The results of correlation analyses of major Garcinia fatty acids are shown in Table 8. PA showed significantly (p < 0.05) negative correlation with SA. PA and SA are undesirable for human health as they are saturated fatty acids. On the other hand, significant (p < 0.05) negative correlation was observed between OA and linolelaidic acid (LNA, C18:2n6t). OA is MUFA and hence beneficial for human consumption, while, LNA is trans PUFA and studies reported that it may have an atherogenic effect [55].

Table 8 Relationship among fatty acid compositions (% in oil) in Garcinia
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Conclusion

The purpose of this study was to compare the fatty acid composition of the major Indian Garcinia fruits. The results have shown these varieties to be an important oil seed cultivar in the Indian subcontinent. The present study concludes that the fatty acid profile of Garcinia fruits varied from species to species not only in their quantities but also in the type of fatty acids. Oleic acid is the predominant MUFA identified in Garcinia fruits and present data also reveals that Garcinia fruits are a rich source of unsaturated fatty acids, which are essential in the diet. A detailed analysis of Garcinia oil, lipid sub-classes and their fatty acid composition has provided us with the preliminary idea about the fatty acid interconnection. As Garcinia fruits were collected for three consecutive seasons from different regions, the data have provided a holistic overview about the nutritional and medicinal benefit of these fruits. The study of these fruits indicates that the fats can be used for blending with different edible oils and their physicochemical properties make them valuable. Our findings may have important implications for the commercial production of these fats.