INFLUENCE OF AVOCADO OIL PROCESSING ON THE NATURE OF SOME UNSAPONIFIABLE CONSTITUENTS

The unsaponifiable part of avocado pear oil, after heating during extr action and processing, contains an abundant fraction that has never be en found in the unsaponifiable part of usual vegetable oils nor in col d-pressed avocado oil. Nine components were detected. Eight of them co uld be identified through chromatographic fractionations and spectrosc opic analysis, mainly by mass spectrometry and proton nuclear magnetic resonance. These products are characterized by a homogeneous structur e. A furyl nucleus is substituted in position 2 by an aliphatic, mono- or polyunsaturated chain. The chainlength varies from 13 to 17 carbon atoms. The carbon number is always odd. The significance of these com ponents in the biological effects of avocado oil unsaponifiables is st ill being studied.