FATTY ACID AND NUTRIENT COMPOSITION OF PERILLA (PERILLA FRUTESCENS L.) ACCESSIONS COLLECTED FROM UTTARAKHAND

With Perilla seeds as raw materials, this paper aims at the compositions of major active fatty oil ingredients, nutrients, mineral elements in order to characterize the nutritional properties of Perilla (Perilla frutescens L.) seeds collected from Uttarakhand, which could aid its finely processing and future application in the development of functional food. Edible vegetable oils are the chief source of nutritionally required fatty acids in human diet. Mustard oil, soybean oil, sunflower oil, sesame oil, coconut oil and groundnut oil are among the edible vegetable oils that are mostly consumed in India. Perilla seed oil is considered to be oil that has high amount of polyunsaturated fats compared to other cooking oils. Perilla, an oil seed crop is rich in omega-3 and omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids and minerals. The fatty acid and nutrient composition of twelve Perilla accessions, collected from different locations of Uttarakhand and subsequently cultivated under similar climatic conditions of Doon valley, Dehradun were analyzed. The methyl esters were analyzed by gas chromatography. The elements detection was done with the help of ICP/MS. It was determined that Perilla seed oil collected from Uttarakhand contains a higher amount of polyunsaturated fatty acids as compared to other oilseed crops. Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA‟s) are termed "essential" because they cannot be synthesized by the body and must be supplied in the diet. Besides this, Perilla seed was also analyzed for proximate composition and mineral elements. It was found that Perilla seed is rich in fat as well as iron and magnesium as compared to other oilseed crops. It also provides a higher amount of energy as compared to others.