Physicochemical and thermal characteristics of Australian chia seed oil

•Physicochemical and thermal characteristics of chia seed oil (CSO) are investigated.•CSO possesses high iodine value, high refractive index and specific gravity.•CSO contains high α-linolenic (64.4%) and linoleic (21.5%) acids.•Melting of CSO occurs at −34 °C and requires an enthalpy value of 77.48 J/g.

Physicochemical and thermal characteristics of Australian chia seed oil (CSO) were studied. The specific gravity, viscosity and refractive index of CSO at ambient temperature were 0.93, 43.2 mPa.s and 1.48, respectively. The acid, peroxide, saponification and iodine values and unsaponifiable matter content of CSO were 2.54 g KOH/kg oil, 4.33 meq O2/kg oil, 197 g KOH/kg oil, 204 g I2/kg oil and 1.12%, respectively. α-linolenic acid is the most abundant fatty acid comprising (64.39% of total oil) followed by linoleic acid (21.46%), while saturated fatty acid content is less than 10%. This CSO contained twelve triacylglycerols (TAGs) out of which trilinolenin (αLnαLnαLn) was the most abundant comprising 33.2% of total TAG. Melting point and melting enthalpy of CSO were −34 °C and 77.48 J/g, respectively. CSO remained stable up to 300 °C with negligible degradation. Due to these physicochemical and thermal properties, CSO is an excellent source of essential fatty acids for food industries.

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