Triglyceride Composition of Almond Seed Oil (Terminalia catappa) Grown in Nigeria using GC-MS and 1H-NMR Spectroscopy

Almond (Terminalia catappa) seeds are rich in oil; however, their study has received limited attention, with researches focused mainly on their health potentials. The present study assesses the composition of the fatty acid (FA) components present in the almond seed oils extracted using soxhlet apparatus and analysed by 1H-NMR (Proton Nuclear Magnetic Resonance) and Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS). Generally, there was significant agreement between the results from the 1H-NMR and GC-MS analyses, however, 1H NMR gave more reliable and reproducible results. The GC-MS and 1H NMR results revealed that the oils contained oleic acid (>18 %), linoleic (>28%) linolenic acid (≤0.03 %) and saturated fatty acids (>44 %).