Extraction, fatty acid profile, phytochemical composition and antioxidant activities of fixed oils from spices belonging to Apiaceae and Lamiaceae family.

Fixed oil, the non-volatile fraction of oil from
spices remains an unexplored entity. The study aimed to
extract fixed oils from 13 Indian spices belonging to the
Apiaceae and Lamiaceae family. Further fatty acid composition,
antioxidant activities and phytochemical profile of
the fixed oils was estimated. Among the studied spices,
Ferula assa-foetida had the highest amount of fixed oil
(19.93%). GC–MS profiling of the fixed oils showed palmitic,
stearic, oleic, linoleic and alpha-linolenic to be the
major fatty acids. The study further identified fixed oils
from Trachyspermum ammi L., Petroselinum crispum L.,
Ocimum basilicum L. and Rosmarinus officinalis L. to be
major source of protocatecheuic, 4,hydroxybenzoic, transcinnamic,
myristein and trans-ferulic acid. R. officinalis, O.
basilicum and Thymus vulgaris L. fixed oils also showed
highest radical scavenging property. T. vulgaris, Majorana
hortensis Moench. and O. Basilicum fixed oils confirmed
high amounts of a-, b ? c- and d-tocopherol respectively.
b-sitosterol was found to be the dominating phytosterol in
all fixed oils. Principal component analysis revealed existence
of variation among spice fixed oils concerning to
their fixed oil composition. The study thus identifies spice
fixed oils as a rich source of lipid soluble bioactive
compounds that are of tremendous industrial and pharmaceutical
importance.