Valorization of Apple Waste from Cold Storage Through Seed Oil Extractions in Western Algeria

Abstract

The Golden Delicious variety of Malus domestica apples, grown on the Ghriss plain in western Algeria, was widely consumed. However, fungal spoilage during cold storage was a main problem, resulting in significant waste.The present study focuses on the valorization of apple seed waste for the extraction of vegetable oils using n-hexane and petroleum ether solvents, separately with a Soxhlet apparatus.The physicochemical properties were assessed according to AOCS methods, while GC-FID and HPLC-DAD analyses were used to detect the fatty acid composition, and quantify alpha-tocopherol, respectively. The results revealed that the oil yields were 23.06 and 22.55%,with refractive indices of 1.4711, 1.4685, moisture contents 8.43 +/- 0.35; 16.90 +/- 0.09 g/100 g; acid values 0.332 +/- 0.20, 0.3633 +/- 0.21 mgKOH/g oil; saponification values 112.2 +/- 0.53-70.04 +/- 1.20 mg KOH/g oil; peroxide values 5.233 +/- 0.21; 6. 167 +/- 0.21 meq O-2/kg oil and iodine values 101.84 +/- 1.13; 106.93 +/- 1.20 g I-2/100g. All these findings were significantly different (P < 0.05), except for the acid value. Linoleic acid was detected as the dominant fatty acid, followed by oleic acid and then palmitic acid. The highest linoleic acid content was 54.78%, and the highest oleic acid content was 36.13%. The highest alpha-tocopherol content was 540 mg/kg, followed by 440 mg/kg. In conclusion, based on these interesting findings, apple seed oils from cold storage waste, could serve as a new source of fatty acids, and alpha-tocopherol for use in cosmetics, pharmaceuticals and the food industry.