Lipids isolated from quinoa seed and seed fractions were characterized
for lipid classes and their fatty acid composition. Quinoa seed lipid
s contained the largest amount of neutral lipids among all the seed fr
actions analyzed. A very high content of free fatty acids was detected
in whole quinoa seed and hulls, accounting for 18.9 and 15.4% of tota
l lipids, respectively. Triglycerides were the major fraction present
and accounted for over 50% of the neutral lipids. Diglycerides were pr
esent in whole seed and contributed 20% of the neutral lipid fraction.
Of the phospholipids examined, lysophosphatidyl ethanolamine, was the
most abundant and made up 45% of the total polar lipids. Phosphatidyl
choline was the second largest phospholipid component and contributed
12% of whole seed phospholipids. Considerable variation in phospholip
ids was evident between the different fractions. The overall fatty aci
d composition of whole quinoa seeds, however, was similar to that repo
rted for other cereal grains, with linoleic, oleic and palmitic acids
as the major acids present.