Effect of extraction process on quality of oil from Asphodelus tenuifolius seeds

In this study, Asphodelus tenuifolius (ATO) seeds oils were extracted by three different extraction methods, namely Soxhlet extraction (SE), microwave-assisted extraction (MAE) and ultrasonic-assisted extraction (UAE). The physicochemical properties, fatty acids, sterols, tocols, total phenol content and antioxidant activity of ATO seed were examined and compared. The best extraction yield was from SE (21.97 +/- 0.01%), followed by MAE (19.28 +/- 0.13%) while that of UAE was the lowest (16.5 +/- 0.1%). Analysis of the chemical composition of these oils showed that linoleic acid and beta-sitosterol were the main fatty acid and sterol compounds, respectively. A large amount of fatty acids and sterols were not significantly affected by the three extraction methods. Nevertheless, the tocols, the total phenols contents and the antioxidant power showed a variation between these three extracted oils. Based on these results, it was found that this specie has great potential for industrial use.