Development of a rapid method for determination of lignans content in sesame oil.

A spectrophotometric method for the rapid estimation
of total lignans present in sesame oil was developed
based on ultraviolet (UV) absorption and specific extinction
(E1%
1cm) value of sesamin and sesamol. The E1%
1cm value
obtained at characteristic UV absorbance of reference standards
sesamin (λ max at 288 nm) and sesamol (λ max at
297 nm) was used to calculate the amount of lignans in
sesame oil. The E1%
1cm value of 230.1 for sesamol at
288 nm in hexane-chloroform (7:3, v/v) was similar to that
of sesamin and hence these were used for development of
UVabsorption method for quantitation of lignans content in
sesame oils. HPLC analysis confirmed and correlated well
(r=0.99) with the results obtained by the UV absorption
method developed in the present study. UV method developed
in the present study could be used for the rapid estimation
of lignans in sesame oils on a routine basis and
would be of great help to sesame oil industries in monitoring
their oil quality.