Some physical properties of Persian lime ( Citrus Latifolia ) seeds and physicochemical properties of the seed oil as affected by solvent extraction and cold pressing methods

In this study, some physical properties of Persian lime seed and some physicochemical properties of its cold-pressed and solvent-extracted oil were investigated. Bulk density, true density, angle of repose, thousand seed mass, and coefficients of static friction were higher in fresh seeds than in dried seeds, but porosity was lower (p   0.05). The major fatty acids of cold-pressed Persian lime seed oil were linoleic (30.72%), palmitic (27.09%), oleic (26.06%) and linolenic acids (6.98%). The oil was mainly composed of PLO (18.15%), PLL (16.12%), PPL (9.87%), POO (8.87%), LLO (6.95%), PPO (5.67%), LLL (3.76%), OOO (5.86%), and PLLn (5.26%) triacylglycerols (TAG). The cold-pressed oil contained slightly lower amounts of palmitic acid, linolenic acid, and PPL and LLL TAGs but slightly higher amounts of oleic acid, linoleic acid, and PLO, PLL and OOO TAGs than the solvent extracted oil (p < 0.05). β-sitosterol, campesterol, and Delta-5 avenasterol were the dominant sterols in both oil samples. Based on the differential scanning calorimetry, the oil started melting at around − 24 °C and fully crystallized at around − 8 °C.