Research Article Oil Characterization and Lipids Class Composition of Pomegranate Seeds Zahra Amri, Houda Lazreg-Aref, Manel Mekni, Sinda El-Gharbi, Olfa Dabbaghi, Beligh Mechri, and Mohamed Hammami Biochemistry Laboratory, LR12ES05 “Nutrition-Functional Foods and Vascular Health”, Faculty of Medicine, University of Monastir, Monastir, Tunisia Correspondence should be addressed to Zahra Amri; zahraamri23@yahoo.fr Received 14 March 2017; Accepted 6 June 2017; Published 24 July 2017 Academic Editor: Kazim Husain Copyright © 2017 Zahra Amri et al. Tis is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Tis study aims to investigate the physicochemical characteristics, phenolics content, and oil composition of pomegranate oil seeds (PSO). Quality indices, pigments, phenolics content, and antioxidant activity were determined. PSO was fractioned into polar lipids: glycolipids (GL) and phospholipids (PL). Sterols profle and fatty acids composition of total lipids (TL), GL, and PL were determined by GC/FID. Te free acidity, the peroxide value, and the specifc extinction coefcients were, respectively, 1.69%, 3.42 in milliequivalents of active oxygen per kilogram of oil, 4.15, and 3.95. PSO is rich in phenols (93.42 mg/Kg) but poor in pigments. Te sterols markers were -sitosterol (77.94%), Δ 5 -avenasterol (7.45%), and campesterol (6.35%). Oil content was 12.2%, wherein 23.9% were GL and 24.35% were PL. TL were rich in unsaturated fatty acids (63.17%), while saturated fatty acids were more present in PL and GL (71.97% and 66.29%, resp.). Conjugated fatty acids were about 13.30%, 2.03%, and 4.91%, respectively, in TL, PL, and GL. Te cis/trans ratio of TL, PL, and GL was, respectively, 49.82%, 42.91%, and 27.39%. Monounsaturated fatty acids were more bound in PL, whereas polyunsaturated fatty acids were more bound in GL. PSO is a good source of essential fatty acids, phenolics compounds, phytosterols, and lipid-soluble fractions. 1. Introduction Several studies have reported that consumed oils have enormous efects on human physiology, including lipid metabolism, development of chronic disease, and well-being [1]. No oil from a single source has been found to be suitable for all purposes because oils from diferent sources generally difer in their composition [2]. So interest in new sources of edible oils has recently grown. In this regard, plant seeds are known to be a good source of oils of nutritional, industrial, and pharmaceutical importance. Although con- ventional edible oils such as soybean, corn, and canola have their own importance, there are more rare and unfamiliar oils having unique characteristics and health-promoting traits. Pomegranate seeds oil (PSO) is such oil. It is considered a powerful health-benefting agent due to its antioxidative, anticarcinogenic, and antilipidemic properties [3–5]. Te composition of the fatty acids of PSO has been reported [1, 6–9], while little is known about the oil constitution, specially its minor compounds such as phenols and polar lipids. In addition, natural fats and oils contain, apart from glycerides, a number of lipophilic materials. Among the most interesting are the glycolipids, phospholipids, sterols, fat- soluble vitamins, and phenols. So the study of PSO for its minor constituents, however, can be useful in order to use both oil and the minor constituents efectively. For example, phenolic compounds have been reported to be present in all vegetable oils as secondary metabolites and they are important for the oxidative stability of the PUFA of these oils [10]. Furthermore, commercial antioxidants such as butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA), butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT), and tert-butylhydroquinone (TBHQ) [11] were usually added to food in many manufacturers to prevent quality deteri- oration and to maintain the nutritional value of diferent food products including oils and products containing oil [12]. In this work, physicochemical properties, phenolic content, pigment content, sterols composition, and fatty acids profle of PSO and its lipid classes have been analyzed. Te results Hindawi BioMed Research International Volume 2017, Article ID 2037341, 8 pages https://doi.org/10.1155/2017/2037341