Food Science and Quality Management www.iiste.org ISSN 2224-6088 (Paper) ISSN 2225-0557 (Online) Vol.30, 2014 1 Comparative Study on Output and Chemical Composition of Argan Oils Extracted from Fruits of Different Regions in the Southwest of Morocco Rahma Belcadi-Haloui 1 , Abderrahmane Zekhnini 2 and Abdelhakim Hatimi 1 * 1. Laboratory of Plants Biotechnology, Faculty of Sciences, Agadir 80 000, Morocco 2. Laboratory of Marine Aquatic Systems, Faculty of Sciences, Agadir 80 000, Morocco *E-mail of the corresponding author: a.hatimi@uiz.ac.ma Abstract The argan oil was extracted from the kernels of oval-shaped fruits, collected from three different regions in the Southwest of Morocco (Aït Melloul, Argana and Tamanar).The output of oil extraction was similar in the fruits of the three regions (about 58%), in which the kernels weight was considered. However a significant difference between the three types of oils was noted when the extraction yield was related to nuts weight. In fact, the oil production was superior in the Aït Melloul fruits (12.22 kg/100 kg) than in those of Tamanar (10.12 kg/100 kg) and Argana (7,69 kg/100 kg). The concentration of saturated fatty acids (Palmitic and stearic acid) was similar in the three oils. Moreover, significant differences were noted in concentrations of unsaturated oleic and linoleic acids. In Argana oil, the oleic acid concentration was higher (49.23%; p<0.05) than in Tamanar oil (42.78%; p<0.05). However, a greater content of linoleic acid was found in the oil extracted from Tamanar fruits (37.45% p<0.05) compared to that obtained from Argana fruits (30.87%; p<0.05). In addition, the study showed differences on the antioxidants composition in the three oils. The content of tocopherols was higher in the oil of Ait Melloul (1410.95 mg/kg) than in those of Argana (1102.02 mg/kg) and Tamanar (910.45 mg/kg). Regarding to the phospholipids, the value was higher in Argana (0.56%) than in Tamanar (0.41%) and Ait Melloul (0.29%). Keywords: Argan oil, fatty acids, fruits, output, phospholipids, tocopherols 1. Introduction The oil extracted from fruits of the argan tree (Argania spinosa L., Sapotaceae) constitutes an important source of fatty food in the southwest of Morocco (Collier and Lemaire, 1974). In this region which is known for its mediterranean climate, argan tree is widespread and its distribution covers approximately 828 300 ha (Emberger, 1925). The climatic conditions are different between the main sites of argan tree, particulary as regards the altitude (which ranges from 5 to up of 1300 m), the rainfall (100 to 500 mm) and the temperature (22 to 38 °C). Previous studies showed that the content and the chemical composition of oil in oilseeds are affected by the geographical location and climatic conditions, especially temperature and rainfall (Johansson et al., 1997; Onemli, 2012; Arslan et al., 2013). In the case of the soya and sunflower, it was reported that the content of oleic acids (monounsaturated) increased in warm regions compared to cool regions (Kandil et al., 1990). In addition, the oil content in the sunflower seeds increased with the decrease of the temperature and the opposite occurred with the soya seeds (Wolf et al., 1982). The aim of this study was to compare the extraction output and the chemical composition (fatty acids, tocopherols and phospholipids) of argan oil obtained from fruits of three regions: Aït Melloul, Argana and Tamanar. 2. Materials and methods 2.1 Fruit sampling Fruit samples of the argan tree were collected from three regions of the southwest of Morocco: - Aït Melloul, located at 12.5 Km from the sea and 16 km southeast of Agadir town. Its altitude is about 35 m. The average annual rainfall is approximately 230 mm. - Argana, situated on the hillside (South) of the occidental High Atlas at 60 km from the sea and at 620 m of altitude. The average annual precipitation is 180 mm. - Tamanar, located at 70 km in the North of Agadir city at an altitude of 255 m. The average annual rainfall is 240 mm.